LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

dljap. l.t. inpijrigp !ftu- 
Shelf. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



riiiiiLlU 




Sb 



(E 



mmmSuiimmSuSi ' M nimmnnt.wj.iiiiiMii ii Hn«iiliiiilii 



NEW YORK, 
GEORGE W.HARLAN 



I 19 PARK PL ACE. • 

I ji i i ii i l aji' i i i » i >n iiUi 'T a>» »f i t i M i uF<i tf tt i/ ^iuiW t i ii »'"'«'M»i l *''W li»»ii mif'iF"ir| JaU 



& 



t 



Mt ^ | |pHWWm»i.jL|lMWt»i.iHH f «i |^ (IH»^ | Utt!i9 



k£i 



VALUABLE 



COOKING RECEIPTS. 



/ 

THOMAS J* MTTKBEY, 



BY 



Late Caterer of Astor House and Rossmore Hotel of New York, and 
Continental Hotel of Philadelphia. 






IS 



NEW YORK: 

GEORGE W. HARLAN, 

19 Park Place. 

1880. 






Copyright, 1880, by 
GEORGE W. HARLAN. 



PREFACE 



IN" issuing this little volume the publisher is aware that 
the market is already deluged with " cook-books," both 
good and bad ; but the aim in this instance is to utilize the 
experience of a caterer, who has spent twenty-five years of 
his life in the service of leading hotels and restaurants all 
over the country, besides catering to the appetites of thou- 
sands of private families. The well-known and unsurpassed 
cuisine of the hotels where he has been employed would of 
itself form testimony conclusive of his culinary ability, but 
he possesses besides numerous flattering letters from pri- 
vate parties, many of high standing in the community. 
As a salad-maker his reputation is wide-spread, and his 
receipts under this head are numbered among the hundreds, 
any one of which is a masterpiece of epicurean art and 
taste. It is my intention shortly to issue a book contain- 
ing these receipts. 

In writing receipts for this volume Mr. Murrey has kept 
economy constantly in mind, and has endeavored to present 
some of the most appetizing formulas in such a shape as to 
be within the reach of all families of moderate means. 
Each and every receipt has been personally tested and can 
be implicitly relied upon. The arrangement is that of a 
regular bill of fare or menu. It will be understood, of 
course, that the contents of this book do not pretend to 
cover the field of cookery. Some idea of the magnitude of 



4 Preface. 

such a task can be had when you are informed that Mr. 
Murrey possesses probably the largest library on gastronomic 
art in this country, numbering many thousand volumes. 
Like all men who have made this art a study, he has aimed to 
so construct his formulas as to ward off indigestion and dys- 
pepsia. Apropos at this point is a story illustrating the phi- 
lanthropy of that prince of French chefs, Careme. Meeting 
one day a woman bitterly weeping at the door of a wine- 
shop, his commiserating question was answered by saying 
her husband was within ; all his earnings were spent there 
and his family left to starve. Close questioning revealed 
the fact that the culprit liked good living, and that the wife 
condemned him to boiled beef every day. " No man cares 
to go abroad," said Careme reproachfully, " for a bad meal, 
if his wife can cook him a good one, particularly if a silver- 
smith and earning money." Careme visited the house the 
next morning, and ordered a silver cup to be repaired, and, 
while waiting for its completion, offered to cook his own 
breakfast, which the man and wife shared. It was wood- 
cock cooked in a way to electrify an Apicius. Careme 
called again for his cup with some wild duck. Meantime, 
the wife made rapid progress in the chefs art. The husband 
ceased wasting his money. The delicate fare improved his 
intellect ; he became an artist in his trade, and finally one 
day Careme received a box containing a silver woodcock ex- 
quisitely carved, carrying in its beak a tiny silver cup, with 
the inscription, " To Careme, from a friend who was saved 
by good cooking." 

The Publisher. 



VALUABLE COOKING RECEIPTS. 



OYSTERS. 



Raw Oysters. — Eat raw oysters as plain and as free from 
condiments as possible, and always on the deep shell in their 
own liquor. The average American orders a dozen on the 
half -shell and then drowns his pets in vinegar, pepper, salt, 
horse-radish, etc., washing them down with some malt beve- 
rage, pays his check, and disappears. The next day he goes 
through the same performance, and the not over-conscien- 
tious oyster-man, knowing his weakness for condiments, can 
easily palm off on him a " Rockaway Cull " for a Blue Point 
or a Green Point, or he may give him a " deep-water na- 
tive " for almost any particular kind or brand he may want, 
and he cannot detect the difference in their flavor, owing to 
his excessive use of condiments. A little lemon-juice is 
all that is necessary, if you will not eat your saline dainties 
natural. 

The heartless oyster-fiend who opens your oysters by smash- 
ing the shell should be avoided, for it is cruelty, to say the 
least. We can forgive him for spattering our clothing with 
shells, mud, and dirty water, but filling our mouths with 
these things is pure ugliness. Order a quart of the bivalves 
to be sent home, and this oyster-butcher endangers the 
health of your family should any of them swallow a par- 
ticle of the shell. The true lover of an oyster should have 
some feeling for his little favorite, and patronize establish- 
ments only where they contrive to open them (Boston fash- 
ion) so dexterously that the mollusk is hardly conscious he 
has been removed from his lodging "till he feels the teeth 
of the piscivorous gourmet tickling him to death. " 

5 



6 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Roast Oysters on half-shell. — Open a dozen large oysters on 
deep shell; add a walnut of butter, with a little salt and mixed 
pepper (red and black) and a pinch of cracker-dust to each. 
Place them on a broiler over a sharp, clear fire until done, 
and serve. 

Families not having all the conveniences for roasting oys- 
ters "restaurant fashion " will find the above receip accept- 
able ; though I must confess it is quite a treat to our Western 
cousins to ask them down into the kitchen of an evening, and 
serve up a peck of oysters roasted in the shell direct from 
the fire, with no other tool to pick them out of the coals 
than the old tongs the moment they pop open. You may 
possibly burn a finger or two, but what of that so long as 
the young folks have had a good time? 

Oysters escalloped. — In a deep yellow dish place a layer 
of oysters and cover them with cracker-dust (add an ounce 
of butter to each layer of cracker-dust) ; pepper and salt to 
taste; another layer of oysters, another of cracker-dust, and 
so on until the dish is full. Moisten the dish with the juice 
of the oysters or hot water to prevent its burning, and 
bake a nice brown. 

Oyster Patties. — Roll out some very light puff paste half 
an inch thick ; stamp it in rounds with a cutter three inches 
in diameter ; press a small cutter two inches in diameter on 
the middle of each to the depth of a quarter of an inch. 
Place the rounds on a buttered tin, baste them lightly with 
egg, and bake in a quick oven. "When done take them out, 
remove the centre-piece, scoop out a little of the inside, and 
fill the shells with the prepared oysters. 

Parboil twenty-five oysters in their own liquor; remove 
the oysters and season the liquid with lemon-peel, nutmeg, 
and pepper; strain, and thicken with a heaping tablespoon- 
ful of flour, one and a half ounces of butter, a wineglassful 
of rich cream ; mix, and then add the oysters. Simmer all 
together a few minutes, fill the shells, and serve. 

Scallops and clams cut up fine, with a sauce made on the 
same principle, make a very nice patty. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 7 

Oyster toast. — Select fifteen plump oysters; mince them, 
and season with mixed pepper and a pinch of nutmeg; beat 
the yolks of four eggs and mix them with half a pint of 
cream. Put the whole into a saucepan and set it over the 
fire to simmer till thick; stir it well, and do not let it boil lest 
it should curdle. Toast five pieces of bread and butter them ; 
when your dish is near boiling-point remove it from the fire 
and pour it over the toast. 

Fried oysters. — Beat up the yolks of four eggs with three ta- 
blespoonfuls of sweet oil, and season them wiLh a teaspoonful 
of salt and a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper; beat up tho- 
roughly. Dry twelve fat oysters on a napkin; dip them in 
the egg-batter, then in cracker-dust; shake off the loose 
cracker- dust, dip them again in the egg-batter, and lastly 
roll them in fine bread-crumbs. Fry in very hot fat, using 
fat enough to cover them. The oil gives them a nice flavor. 
(Private receipt of a prominent Philadelphia caterer.) 

Broiled oysters.— Rub the bars of a wire broiler with a lit- 
tle sweet butter. Dry twelve large, fat oysters and place them 
upon the broiler plain. Broil them over a clear fire, and 
when done on both sides send to table on a piece of buttered 
toast, with a little melted butter in a separate dish. Should 
you hanker after a delightful case of dyspepsia cover them 
with egg-batter and roll them in crumbs before broiling. 

Oysters a la Poulette. — Blanch a dozen oysters in their own 
liquor; salt and remove the oysters; add a tablespoonful of 
butter, the juice of half a lemon, a gill of cream, and a tea- 
spoonful of flour. Beat up the yolk of one egg while the 
sauce is simmering; add the egg, and simmer the whole 
until it thickens. Place the oysters on a hot dish, pour the 
sauce over them, sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top, 
and send to table. (This is a favorite dish of Hotel Bruns- 
wick habitues in New York.) 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 



SOUPS. 

Sir Henry Thompson says "that soups, whether 
clear or thick, are far too lightly esteemed by most classes. 
They are too often regarded as the mere prelude to a meal, to 
be swallowed hastily or disregarded altogether." And the 
Almanack des Gourmands tells us that ten folio volumes 
would not contain the receipts of all the soups that have been 
invented in the Parisian kitchen alone. 

Soup Stock. — In making soups from raw meats break the 
bones apart, place them in a pot, cover them with cold water, 
and boil slowly for five or six hours; add salt to quicken the 
rising of the scum, which should be thoroughly removed. Cut 
up three carrots, three turnips, two heads of celery, and two 
onions ; add to the stock, together with six or eight cloves, 
a bouquet of herbs, and a teaspoonful of whole peppers; strain 
into a deep saucepan, and clarify with the white of egg. It 
will then be ready for an indefinite variety of soups. 

Veal Stock. — Chop up three slices of bacon and two 
pounds of the neck of vea,l; place in a stew-pan with a pint 
of water or beef stock, and simmer half an hour; then add 
two quarts of stock, one onion, a carrot, a bouquet of herbs, 
four stalks of celery, half a teaspoonful of bruised whole 
peppers, and a pinch of nutmeg with a teaspoonful of salt ; 
boil gently for two hours, removing the scum in the mean- 
time. Strain into an earthern crock, and when cold remove 
the fat. A few bones of poultry added, with an additional 
quantity of water or stock, will improve it. 

Veal Broth. — Stew a knuckle of veal in about three quarts 
of water; add two ounces of rice, a little salt, and a blade of 
mace : boil until the liquor is reduced one-half. 

Gumbo Soup. — Cut up two chickens, two slices of ham, and 
two onions into dice ; flour them, and fry the whole to a 
light brown; then fill the frying-pan with boiling water, stir 
it a few minutes, and turn the whole into a saucepan con- 
taining three quarts of boiling water ; let it boil forty min- 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 9 

nfces, removing the scum. In the meantime soak three pints 
of ochra in cold water twenty minutes; cut them into thin 
slices, and add to the other ingredients ; let it boil one hour 
and a half. Add a quart of canned tomatoes and a cupful of 
boiled rice half an hour before serving. 

Southern housekeepers use the leaves of the sassafras-tree 
as a substitute for ochra when the latter is scarce and dear. 
They gather the young leaves and spread them in the shade 
for a few days; then they dry them in the sun. When they 
are thoroughly dried they put them in a bag and hang them 
up for two or three months ; they are then pulverized and 
bottled. 

Mock Turtle Soup.— Take half a calf's head with the skin 
on; remove the brains. Wash the head in several waters, and 
let it soak in cold water for an hour. Put it in a saucepan 
with five quarts of beef stock; let it simmer gently for an 
hour; remove the scum carefully, take up the head, let it get 
cold, and cut the meat from the bones into pieces an inch 
square and set them in the ice-box. Dissolve two ounces of 
butter in a frying-pan; mince a large onion and fry it in the 
butter until nicely browned, and add to the stock in which 
the head was cooked. Return the bones to the stock; simmer 
the soup, removing the scum until no more rises. Put in a 
carrot, a turnip, a bunch of parsley, a bouquet of herbs, a 
dozen outer stalks of celery, two blades of mace, and the rind 
of one lemon, grated; salt and pepper to taste. Boil gently for 
two hours, and strain the soup through a flannel cloth. Mix 
three ounces of Barlow's prepared browned flour with a pint 
of the soup, and simmer until it thickens; then add it to the 
soup. Take the pieces of head out of the ice-box and add 
to the soup ; let them simmer until quite tender. " Before 
serving add a little Worcestershire sauce, a tablespoonful of 
anchovy paste, a gobletful of port or sherry, and two lemons 
sliced, each slice cut into quarters with the rind trimmed off." 
Warm the wine a very little before adding it to the soup. 
Keep in ice-box three or four days before using. Serve the 
brains as a side-dish. 



10 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Pea Soup. — Cat two large slices of ham into dice with a 
sliced onion, and fry them in a little bacon fat until they are 
lightly browned. Out up one turnip, one large carrot, four 
outer stalks of celery, and one leek into small pieces; add 
these last ingredients to the ham and onion, and let them 
simmer for fifteen minutes; then pour over them three 
quarts of corned-beef water or hot water, and add a pint of 
split peas which have been soaked in cold water all night; 
boil gently until the peas are quite tender, stirring constant- 
ly to prevent burning; then add salt and pepper to taste, 
with a teaspoonful of brown sugar. Eemove the soup from 
the fire and rub through a sieve ; if it is not thick enough 
to suit your taste or fancy add a few ounces of flour mixed 
smoothly in a little cold milk; return the soup to the fire, 
and simmer for half an hour. Cut up four slices of Ameri- 
can bread into small dice, and fry the pieces in very hot fat 
until nicely browned ; place them on a napkin or towel, 
and add a few of them to each plate or tureen of soup just 
before it goes to table. 

Economical Pea Soup. — Boil two quarts of green-pea hulls 
in four quarts of water, in which beef, mutton, or fowl has 
been boiled, four hours; then add a bunch or bouquet of 
herbs, salt and pepper, a tablespoonful of butter, and a quart 
of milk. Eub through a hair-sieve, thicken with a little 
flour, and serve with croutons, as in the foregoing receipt. 

Tomato Soup. — Cut four ounces of ham into dice; slice 
two onions and fry with ham in two ounces of butter; when 
browned turn them into a saucepan containing three quarts 
of stock or corned-beef water, and add three carrots, two 
turnips, one red pepper (lady-finger), and a dozen outer 
stalks of celery; simmer gently for one hour, then add a 
quart of canned tomatoes; boil gently for another hour, rub 
the whole through a sieve, and simmer again with the liquor 
a few minutes; add salt and serve with croutons. 

Oxtail Soup. — Take two oxtails; cut them into joints, and 
cut up each joint into four pieces; put them into a pan with 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 11 

two ounces of butter, and fry them ten minutes. Slice two 
onions, one turnip, two carrots, a dozen outer stalks of 
celery, and fry in the same butter, with three slices of bacon 
cut up fine; fry to a light brown. Turn the ingredients into 
a saucepan with a quart of stock or ham-water, and boil 
quickly for half an hour; then add two more quarts of stock, 
a bouquet of herbs, two bay-leaves, a dozen whole peppers 
crushed, a few cloves, and salt to taste. 

Simmer until the meat is quite tender; then take it out, 
strain the soup, skim off the fat, and thicken with two 
ounces of Barlow's prepared flour; return the meat to the 
soup, add a tablespoonful of Worcestershire, a cupful of 
sherry, and serve with grated rusks. 

Chicken Soup. — Take three young male chickens; cut them 
up, put them in a saucepan with three quarts of veal stock; 
a sliced carrot, one turnip, and one head of celery may be 
put with them and removed before the soup is thickened. 
Let them simmer for an hour. Remove all the white flesh; 
return the rest of the birds to the soup, and boil gently for 
two hours. Pour a little of the liquid over a quarter of a 
pound of the crumbs of bread, and when they are well soaked 
put it in a mortar with the white flesh of the birds, and 
pound the whole to a smooth paste ; add a pinch of ground 
mace, salt, and a little cayenne pepper, press the mixture 
through a sieve, and boil once more, adding a pint of boiling 
cream; thicken with a very little flour mixed in cold milk, 
remove the bones, and serve. 

Chicken Soup, No. 2. — Cut up one chicken; put into a 
stew-pan two quarts of cold water, a teaspoonful of salt, and 
one pod of red pepper (lady-finger); when half done add 
two dessert-spoonfuls of well-washed rice. When thorough- 
ly cooked remove the bird from the soup, tear a part of the 
breast into shreds (saving the balance of the fowl for a 
salad), and add it to the soup with a wineglassful of cream. 

Beef Tea. — Take half a pound of lean beef ; cut it 
up into small bits; let it soak in a pint of water three-quar- 



12 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

ters of an hour, then put both into a quart champagne 
bottle with just a suspicion of salt; cork tightly, and wire 
the cork, so as to prevent its popping out. Set the bottle 
into a saucepanful of warm water, boil gently an hour and a 
half, and strain through a napkin. 

Beef tea administered often to a patient without the fibrine 
of the meat will tend to weaken instead of strengthen- 
ing the invalid. I always add about a teaspoonful of finely- 
chopped raw meat to a goblet of the tea, and let it stand in 
the tea about five minutes before serving. 



FISH. 

Codfish is about the best fish that comes to our market, 
but it is so cheap and plentiful that we do not appreciate it 
quite as much as we would if the price was twenty-five cents 
a pound and its season to last not over two months. Trout 
and all delicate fish lose their flavor long before they reach 
New York, and they should be eaten within half an hour 
after they are caught; while the cod improves in flavor if 
kept for a day or two with the addition of a little salt to 
give it firmness. 

The " shoulder part" pleases my palate the most. Have 
you ever tried a codfish steak for breakfast, dredged in corn- 
meal and fried in salt pork-fat ? It is splendid. A rasher 
of bacon served with it does no harm. 

In broiling cod, haddock, bass, etc., always tie them up 
in a bag or towel, and lay the fish in the fish-pan, adding a 
little salt, a pint of Ehine wine, or cupful of vinegar, and 
cover the fish with cold water, allowing it to boil gently till 
done. Drawn-butter sauce with boiled fish is easy to 
make and pleases almost everybody. 

Baked Cod. — When purchasing a four-pound cod ask your 
fish-dealer to send you three or four " codfish-heads," and 
as soon as the basket comes into the house rub a little salt 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 13 

on the fish, chop the heads into six pieces each, and sprinkle 
a little salt over them. Place them in the centre of the bak- 
ing-pan (to be used as supports for the fish), with two ounces 
of batter, one carrot, a turnip, a potato, and one onion cut 
into slices, two blades of mace, a teaspoonful white pepper, 
one tablespoonful celery-seed, six cloves, and a cupful of red 
wine. Set the pan in the oven while you prepare the cod. 

Soak in cold water until soft a sufficiency of bread to fill 
the fish; drain off the water and pound the bread to a paste; 
mix with it two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, two raw 
eggs, a tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce, with salt and 
pepper to taste. Put this stuffing inside the fish and sew it 
up ; place the cod in the pan with two or three pieces of but- 
ter on the upper side of the fish, and baste it frequently; 
when it is cooked lay the fish on a hot platter, and garnish 
with fried oysters, if convenient. Add two tablespoonfuls of 
Barlow's prepared flour to the pan, a wineglass of sherry; 
mix, and strain the gravy into a sauce-boat. 

Salt Codfish with Cream. — Soak one pound and a half of 
salt codfish over-night. Next morning set the fish to sim- 
mer for about two hours; drain off the water and strip the 
fish into shreds; place it in a saucepan with a quart of milk 
and two ounces of butter; mix a tablespoonful of flour with 
two tablespoonfuls of cold milk, and add to the fish. Let the 
whole come to a boil, remove the dish from the fire, beat up 
one egg to a froth, add it to the fish, stir, and serve im- 
mediately. 

Salt Mackerel Broiled. — Soak a No. 2 chicken mackerel in 
cold water over- night; pour off the water and let the fish 
stand in milk enough to cover it for one hour before broil- 
ing; baste the fish with butter, and broil. When clone 
plunge the fish into hot water for one minute, and send to 
table with a dish of melted butter, the juice of one lemon, 
and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley mixed together. 

Broiled Lobster (for breakfast). — Cut the tail part of a lob- 
ster in two, rub a little sweet-oil over the meat, and broil. 



14 Valuable CooTc'ng Receipts. 

When done brush a little butter over it, with the juice of half 
a lemon and just the suspicion of cayenne. Place the meat 
back into the shell, and send to table with a dish of broiled 
tomatoes and a fresh-baked potato. 

Lobster en Brochette. — Cut up the tail of a lobster into 
square pieces; take a few thin slices of bacon and cut into 
lengths to match the pieces of lobster; place them on a 
skewer alternately, and broil; baste as in " broiled lobster," 
and send to table on a bed of water-cress. 

Baked Shad. — Make a dressing of bread-crumbs, butter, 
pepper, and salt worked to a paste; fill the shad with the mix- 
ture, sew it up, and place it lengthwise in a baking-pan with 
a little water and an ounce of butter. Fill the space be- 
tween the fish and the sides of the pan with slices of raw 
potatoes one-fourth of an inch thick, and serve fish and 
potatoes together. Add a spoonful of Barlow's prepared 
flour to the gravy, and serve. 

"Tenderloin" Trout. — Take a large catfish and cut it up 
into pieces two inches in length and one inch in thickness. 
Beat up three eggs with a little salt and pepper and a tea- 
spoonful of Worcestershire; dip the fish in the egg-batter, 
and roll in corn-meal or bread-crumbs. Fry a deep brown, 
garnish with lemon, parsley, or celery-tops, and send to table 
with a cucumber salad. 

Fricasseed Eels. — Cut up three pounds of eels into pieces 
of three inches in length; put them into a stew-pan, and 
cover them with Rhine wine (or two-thirds water and one- 
third vinegar); add fifteen oysters, two pieces of lemon, a 
bouquet of herbs, one onion quartered, six cloves, three 
stalks celery, a pinch of cayenne, pepper and salt to taste. 
Stew the eels one hour; remove them from the dish; strain 
the liquor. Put it back into the stew-pan with a gill of 
cream and an ounce of butter rolled in flour; simmer gently 
a few minutes, pour over the fish, and serve with a toasted 
milk cracker. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 15 

Soyer's Boiled Salmon. — I always prefer dressing this fish 
in slices from an inch to two inches in thickness, boiling it in 
plenty of salt and water twenty minutes. The whole fish 
may be boiled, but it requires longer boiling. Salmon eats 
firmer by not putting it into water until it is boiling. Dress 
the fish upon a napkin and serve with lobster-sauce, or plain 
melted butter with a few sprigs of parsley boiled a few 
minutes in it. 

I generally boil a salmon whole, or head and shoulders in 
one piece, with salt, and cover the fish with equal parts of 
warm water and Rhine wine, two or three bay-leaves, a few 
cloves, etc. When done I use the water in making sauce by 
reducing one-half, adding butter rolled in flour to thicken, 
pinch of cayenne, and the juice of one lemon. 

Eel Patties. — Take three medium-sized eels and cut them 
up into inch pieces. Put them in a stew-pan, add salt, and 
cover them with cold water. When the water comes to a 
boil take them off the fire, wash them in cold water, scrape 
off any fat that m «.y adhere, return them to the stew-pan with 
just enough hot water to cover them, and add a blade of mace, 
a bay-leaf, a few whole peppers, a few sprigs of parsley, and 
one lemon cut into slices. Stew gently until the fish will 
separate from the bone ; remove the fish from the broth, pick 
it into small pieces, and set them aside ; reduce the broth a 
little, strain, and thicken with flour and butter. Return the 
fish to the broth, simmer a moment, fill your patties and 
serve ; make patty-shells as directed for oyster patties. 

Drawn-Butter Sauce. — Season a cupful of flour with salt, 
pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg, mix it with some water into 
a paste, and work in a piece of butter about the size of an 
egg ; put the pan over the fire and boil for twenty minutes ; 
tli en take it off, add some fresh butter in small portions at a 
time, stirring continually to prevent the butter from rising to 
the top. Add the juice of half a lemon before serving. 

Maitre d'Hotel Butter. — Mix four ounces of butter with a 
heaping tablespoonful of chopped parsley, salt and pepper, 
and the juice of three lemons ; serve with boiled fish, etc. 



16 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Anchovy Sauce. — An easy way of making anchovy sauce is 
to stir two or three teaspoonfuls of prepared essence or paste 
of anchovy (which may be bought at your grocer's) into a 
pint of melted butter ; let the sauce boil a few minutes, and 
flavor with lemon -juice. 

Lobster Sauce. — Break the shell of the lobster into small 
pieces. Pour over them one pint of water or veal-stock and 
a pinch of salt ; simmer gently until the liquid is reduced 
one-half. Mix two ounces of butter with an ounce of flour, 
strain the liquid upon it, and stir all over the fire until the 
mixture thickens ; do not let it boil. Add two tablespoonfuls 
of the lobster-meat, the juice of half a lemon, and serve. 

The spawn and coral mixed with double the quantity of 
butter, a little cayenne, and pounded in a mortar to a paste, 
then pressed through a hair-sieve, is called lobster-butter ; a 
spoonful of it added to the sauce will improve it ; the rest of 
the butter may be used in garnishing and decorating cold 
salmon, etc. 

Caper Sauce. — Chop up two tablespoonfuls of capers and 
add them to half a pint of melted butter, with the piece of 
one lemon, a teaspoonful Worcestershire sauce, and a pinch 
of cayenne ; put on the fire and simmer a few minutes ; mix a 
teaspoonful of flour with a very little cold water, and add to 
the sauce. 

Celery Sauce. — Put two ounces of butter into a saucepan, 
melt it, and add two heads of celery cut up into inch pieces ; 
stir the celery in the pan until it is quite tender ; add salt 
and pepper, with a little mace. Mix a tablespoonful of flour 
in a cupful of stock and simmer half an hour. A cupful of 
cream may be used instead of the stock. 

Oyster Sauce. — Blanch one dozen oysters in their own 
liquor ; then take the oysters out and add two blades of mace, 
an ounce of melted butter, and a cupful of thickened cream ; 
return the oysters to the sauce, let them come to a boil, and 
serve ; salt to taste. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 17 

Oyster Sauce, No. 2. — Take a dozen large oysters and boil 
them in their own liquor two minutes ; remove them from 
the liquid, and quarter them. Mix an ounce of butter and an 
ounce of flour in a stew-pan, add the oyster liquor, a pinch 
of cayenne or two drops tobasco pepper-sauce, with a little 
nutmeg and half a pint of cream. Stir the whole gently 
over the fire until the sauce is smooth and thick. Add the 
pieces of oysters, simmer a moment longer, and serve. 

Egg Sauce. — Put two ounces of butter into a saucepan 
with a dessert-spoonful of flour and a very little water ; sim- 
mer gently. When ready to boil take the saucepan from 
the fire and stir in two ounces more of butter and three cold 
hard-boiled eggs cut up small ; sprinkle a little salt on the 
egg- 
Dutch Sauce. — Blend together two ounces of butter and a 
teaspoonful of flour; put it into a stew-pan with equal quan- 
tities of stock and vinegar (from the bottle containing im- 
ported mixed pickles), say a wineglassful of each ; stir for 
two minutes, and add the beaten yolks of two eggs, keeping up 
the stirring till the mixture thickens ; if you let it boil it 
will curdle. Add the juice of half a lemon before serving. 

Gravy for Baked Fish. — Brown a sliced onion in a little 
butter and add gradually a pint of stock; thicken with ata- 
blespoonful of Barlow's prepared flour, and let the mixture 
simmer with a bunch of parsley nearly half an hour; strain 
the gravy and add salt and a teaspoonful walnut-catsup. 



BOILING. 



Before boiling joints of meat the cook should think for a mo- 
ment whether she desires the juices to go into the water, as 
in soup, gravies, etc., or to be retained in the meat itself. 
If they are to be retained put the meat into fast-boiling 
water, and let it boil for ten minutes to make the outside 
hard and thus prevent the juice escaping; then add cold 



18 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

water equal in quantity to about one-half of the boiling water ; 
this will reduce the temperature to about 160° (Liebig), at 
which point the meat (raw) should be kept until thoroughly 
done, which, however, takes a much longer time than the 
ordinary mode. Care must be taken to remove the scum 
when the water is on the point of boiling, or it will quickly 
sink and spoil the appearance of the meat. 

If it is desired to extract the juice from raw meat, cover 
it with cold water and simmer slowly as before. 

Salted meat requires longer boiling than fresh meat. 

Dried and smoked meat should be soaked for some hours 
before it is put into the water. Place your meat in a sauce- 
pan sufficiently large to contain the joint easily and cover 
with water, and no more. 

Boiled Leg of Mutton. — Cut off the shank-bone, trim the 
knuckle, and wash the mutton; put it into a pot with salt and 
cover with boiling water. Allow it to boil a few minutes; 
skim the surface clean, draw your pot to the side of the fire, 
and simmer until done. Time, from two to two hours and 
a half. 

Do not try the leg with a fork to determine whether it 
is done or not. You will lose all the juices of the meat by so 
doing. 

Serve with caper sauce, or melted butter with a few small 
capers added. 

The liquor from the boiling may be converted into soup 
with the addition of a ham-bone and a few vegetables boiled 
together. 

English housekeepers hang up a leg of mutton from two 
days to at least a week before using, weather allowing. 

Corned Beef. — Put your corned beef in a saucepan or pot 
and cover with cold water ; boil gently until done. Allow 
half an hour to the pound after it has come to a boil. 

The ingredients used in making a pickle for corned beef 
harden the fibres of the meat, so that to plunge it into hot 
water would not only make it tough and hard but indiges- 
tible. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 19 

Boiled Tongue. — Soak a smoked or dry tongue over-night. 
Next morning set it in a pot of water and simmer slowly for 
five or six hours. Eemove the pot from the fire, and when 
the water has cooled take out the tongue, tear off the skin, 
and trim off the ragged end. 

Boiled Ham. — Soak the ham over-night; scrape off the 
rus'y spots, put into a pot, and cover with plenty of cold 
water; add a bouquet of herbs and a few cloves to the water, 
and boil very slowly until done; remove the pot from the 
fire, and when cold take out the ham, take off the skin, trim 
the fat off around the edge. Take half a cupful of brown 
sugar, a teaspoonful of prepared browned flour, and moisten 
with port wine; cover this paste over the fat of the ham, and 
set it in a very hot oven until the mixture froths. 

Boiled Chicken. — Wash a chicken in lukewarm water; truss 
it, put it into hot water, let it come to a boil, then draw it 
to one side of the fire and let it simmer gently until ready; 
remove the scum as it rises. The more slowly it boils the 
whiter and tenderer it will be. Add a very little salt, and 
half a lemon cut into small pieces, to the water before boil- 
ing. Serve with any white or cream sauce. 

Boiled Turkey. — Cassell's work on cookery tells us that 
"there is an old proverb which says that a turkey boiled is a 
turkey spoiled, but in this couplet there is more rhyme than 
reason, as a boiled turkey forms a dainty dish, most accept- 
able to persons with dulicate stomachs, who fear the richness 
of the roasted bird." Take a plump hen-turkey, singe, draw 
it, and truss as you would to roast ; make a stuffing of herbs, 
salt, pepper, bread-crumbs, a little mace and grated lemon - 
peel, with a few oysters chopped up, a spoonful of butter, and 
a raw egg; mix your dressing well together, fill the bird, and 
sew it up; tie up the turkey in a flowered cloth to make it 
white, and simmer until tender. Time, about two hours and 
a half. 

Serve with oyster sauce. 



20 Valuable Cooking Receipts* 

Boiled Capon. — Boil a capon as you would a large chicken, 
add a bouquet of herbs to the water, and serve with egg 
sauce. 

When a boiled fowl has been so far used that meat slices 
cannot be carved from it, the remains may be cut up for 
hash, seasoned with salt and pepper, moistened with hot 
water (or the water in which the fowl has been boiled); stir 
the dish while it is simmering to prevent burning; serve on 
a piece of buttered toast, and place two poached eggs on top 
of the hash for each person. Or mince the remains of fowl 
very fine with an equal quantity of calf's brains or sweet- 
breads; season with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg; add a lit- 
tle cracker-dust, two raw eggs; moisten with Rhine wine or 
cream, mix well together, roll into balls the size of an egg, dip 
into egg batter, then into crumbs, and fry in very hot fat. 



ENTREES. 



Fillet of Beef. — Cut the fillet (tenderloin) out of a sirloin of 
beef ; trim olf the fat and the sack or skin, and lard it with 
fat pork cut into narrow strips two inches long. Put each 
strip of pork (or bacon) into a larding-needle, and with the 
point of your needle take up as much flesh as will hold the 
strip of pork, allowing abou half an inch of each end ex- 
posed after removing the needle; repeat this process as 
neatly and as evenly as possible and at equal distances until 
finished. Rub a little sweet oil and salt over the fillet ; set 
it one side a few minutes while you prepare the roasting 
(baking) pan for it. 

Chop up into small pieces a few beef or veal bones, and 
cover the bottom of your pan with them. Add three slices 
of bacon, two carrots, two onions, and one turnip sliced, 
with a pint of stock. Season with salt, bruised whole pep- 
pers, a bay-leaf, a few cloves, and a blade of mace. Place 
the fillet in the pan with the larded side up. Moisten it with 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 21 

a wineglassful of vinegar, and bake. When done remove 
the fillet, add a tablespoonful of Barlow's prepared flour and 
a glass of sherry or port to the pan, mix, and strain the sauce 
on to the fillet. Chop up half a dozen button-mushrooms, 
sprinkle over the meat, and serve. 

Beef a la Mode. — Take three pounds of fresh rump of beef; 
remove the fat and sinews. Cut fat bacon into long strips and 
lard the meat with it through and through. Mix together 
a few cloves, mace, allspice, whole peppers, salt-spoonful of 
cayenne, a tablespoonful of powdered herbs, and a clove of 
garlic, with half a pint of vinegar. Put the meat into an 
earthen crock or deep stew-pan, with a thin piece of bacon 
under it ; add the vinegar and seasoning and a pint of stock, 
with a walnut of butter rolled in flour. Cover the crock and 
simmer gently until done. When preferred vegetables may 
be added and served with the beef, allowing plenty of stock 
or water for them to boil nicely. 

Beef Stew. — Take a three pound piece of rump of beef ; re- 
move the bone, bind it up tight, and put it in a pot or stew- 
pan that will just hold it. Season with ground spices. Fry 
two large onions sliced, and add them to it, with two carrots, 
two turnips, a few cloves, a blade of mace, a head of celery, 
and a potato quartered ; add stock enough to cover the 
meat. Simmer as gently as possible until quite tender. 
Remove the fat, take out the meat, and add half a pint of 
port, a wineglassful of vinegar, a tablespoonful Worcester- 
shire sauce to the gravy ; strain over the meat, and serve 
with a garnish of assorted vegetables arranged neatly around 
the dish. 

Beefsteak Pie. — Cover the sides of a raised pie-mould with 
butter, and put a lining of paste made in the following man- 
ner neatly into it : Chop a quarter of a pound of suet ; put 
it into a stew-pan with the same quantity of butter and a 
pint of water. When boiling pass them through a sieve in- 
to two pounds of flour, and stir it with a spoon until cold. 
When the paste is quite smooth roll it out and it is ready 



22 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

for the lining. Cut up two pounds of round or rump steak 
into pieces about two inches square ; dust them with flour ; 
season with parsley, salt, and pepper; lay them round the 
mould; fill it with alternate layers of potatoes cut into quar- 
ters, and meat. Make a lid for the mould with some of the 
paste, brush it over with beaten egg, and bake three hours. 
Put an ornamental centre to the cover, that it may be more 
easily raised to throw in some gravy as soon as it is baked. 

Calfs Head. — The first thing to do on receiving a calf's 
head is to remove the brains, throw them into cold water for 
an hour, drain, then boil them in salt and water for twenty 
minutes, and set them aside. 

Put the head into cold water and wash it well, and leave 
it there to draw out the blood for an hour ; then take it out 
and dry it well with a towel. 

Bone a calf's head in the following manner : Place the 
calf's head on the table with the front part of the head fac- 
ing you ; draw the sharp point of a knife from the back part 
of the head right down to the nose, making an incision down 
to the bone of the skull ; then with the knife clear the scalp 
and cheeks from the bones right and left, always keeping the 
point of the knife close to the bone. If you have not pre- 
viously removed the brains, chop the head in two and re- 
move them as carefully as possible. 

When the head has been boned wash it w r ell, wipe it with 
a clean cloth, season the inside with salt and pepper, roll it 
up witli the tongue, tie it up, and blanch it in hot water for 
ten minutes ; then put it into cold water a few minutes, wipe 
it dry, and set it aside until w r anted. 

Fried Calf's Head. — Cut the prepared calf's head into 
pieces two inches wide ; lay them for three hours in a pickle 
made of two tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, a wiuegiassful of 
Rhine wine, salt and pepper, and a pinch of mace. Take 
them out, drain them, and dip each piece in egg-batter ; 
roll in cracker-dust, fry in hot fat, and send to table with 
sauce tartare. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 23 

Sauce Tartare. — Mince two small English pickles, one- 
fourth of an onion, and a few sprigs of parsley together. 
Acid them to three tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise sauce, and 
the juice of half a lemon. Mix and serve (see mayonnaise 
sauce). A few tarragon-leaves will improve the sauce. 

Calf's Head, Maitre d'Hotel. — Cut up your prepared calf's 
head into neat slices, and simmer gently for two hours; take 
out the pieces of meat, place on a hot dish, and cover them 
with Maitre d'Hotel sauce; garnish with parsley. 

Calf s Head Broiled. — Cut up a prepared calf's head into 
pieces quite three inches wide; place them in a saucepan, 
cover with water. Add a wineglassful of vinegar, and sim- 
mer half an hour; then place them in cold water a few 
minutes, dry them on a towel, rub a little sweet-oil over each 
piece, and broil. When done brush melted butter over 
them with the juice of half a lemon. 

Calf s Head Collared. — Bone a calf's head carefully, wash it 
well, and wipe it dry; lay the head on the table, and spread on it 
a force-meat made of the brain and tongue, and a very little 
ham mixed with a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a tea- 
spoonful of thyme, a teaspoonful of marjoram, the minced 
yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, a wineglassful brandy, and a 
little salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Roll the head as tightly as pos- 
sible, and tie it in a cloth, binding it with tape. Put it into 
a saucepan with stock enough to cover it, and add a carrot, 
a parsnip, one onion, a sliced lemon, a few bay-leaves, salt, 
and a dozen bruised peppers. 

Let it boil gently three hours; then take it out of the cloth 
and pour round it a sauce made of a pint of the liquid in 
which it was boiled, with a little lemon- juice, two small 
pickles, and four button-mushrooms chopped fine. 

Calf's Brains en Matelotte. — Wash the brains in several 
waters, remove the skin, and boil them in salt and water with 
a little vinegar in it for ten minutes. Take them out and 
lay them in cold water until wanted. Melt a tablespoonful 
of butter in a saucepan, and mix with it a teaspoonful of 



24 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

flour. Add three button-onions sliced, a teaspoonful Wor- 
cestershire, a clove, a bay-leaf, half a pint of stock, and a 
wineglassful of Rhine wine. When these are mixed tho- 
roughly together put the brains with them and let them 
stew twenty minutes. 

Calf s Brains Fried. — Prepare the brains as in the forego- 
ing receipt. Cut them into slices, dip them in egg-batter, 
roll in crumbs, and fry in hot fat or butter; garnish with 
lried parsley. 

Calf s Brains and Tongue. — Prepare the brains as hereto- 
fore recommended, and chop them. Put them in a sauce- 
pan with two tablespoonfuls of butter, a little chopped 
parsley, the juice of half a lemon, salt, and cayenne pepper. 
Skin and trim the boiled tongue, place it in the middle of 
the dish and pour the sauce and brains round it, and send 
to table. 

Stewed Sweet-Breads. — Soak two sweet-breads in cold 
water for one hour; change the water twice; put them in 
boiling water ten minutes till they are firm, then take them 
out and place them in cold water until wanted. 

Place them in a stew-pan, cover them with stock, and 
simmer nearly an hour; take them out, place them on a hot 
dish, remove the gravy from the fire a minute, and add to it 
gradually the yolk of an egg and four tablespoonfuls of 
cream; put this over a fire till the sauce thickens, but do not 
let it boil. Before serving add the jnice of a lemon, pour the 
sauce around the sweet-breads, and send to table with a dish 
of green peas. 

They may be cut up and fried after dipping in egg and 
rolled in crumbs. 

Sweet-breads are very nice broiled and served with Maitre 
d'Horel butter ; garnish with parsley. 

Pork Chops, Tomato Sauce. — Broil three nice pork chops, 
and when well done sprinkle them with pepper and salt, 
place on a hot dish, and serve with tomato sauce poured 
around them. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 15 

Tomato Sauce. — Stew half a dozen tomatoes in a pint of 
stock, with a slice of ham cut into dice, a bay-leaf, a blade 
of mace, three drops of tabasco pepper-sauce, and three 
small pickled onions; stir the whole over a gentle fire until 
done, then press them through a sieve, add salt, and put the 
sauce again upon the fire till it is very hot. 

Pork tenderloin baked or broiled is acceptable with sauce 
Robert. 

Sauce Robert. — Slice two onions, and fry them in butter 
until they begin to turn yellow; pour over them as much 
brown gravy as will cover them; add a tablespoonful of 
French or German mustard (do not use English mustard), 
a teaspoonful of salt, a salt-spoonful of pepper. Simmer 
very gently, adding more gravy, if necessary, till the onions 
are tender. Rub them through a fine sieve. Mix with the 
pulp a very little more stock or gravy, and boil once. This is 
a simple recipe, and one that any housekeeper can easily 
make. 

Pork Sausages. — The most wholesome way to cook sausa- 
ges is to bake them. Place them in a baking-pan in a single 
layer, and bake in a moderate oven; turn them over when 
they are half done, that they may be equally browned all 
over. Send to table with pieces of toast between each sau- 
sage. Cut the toast about the same size as the sausage, and 
moisten it with a very li t tie of the sausnge-fat. 

They make a nice entree by placing them on a mound of 
mashed potatoes and served with apple-sauce, or small apple- 
fritters neatly arranged round them. 

About the best sausages that come to the New York market 
are the Deerfoot Farm sausages; fancy grocers retail them 
for about twenty cents a pound. Split them in two and 
broil them, and send to table with Boston brown-bread toast, 
buttered. Use your sausage-fat for frying hash, etc. 

Breast of Mutton with Peas. — Cut up two pounds of the 
breast of mutton into square pieces; put them into a stew-pan 
with an ounc3 of butter, and brown them nicely; then cover 



26 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

with hot water and stew for an hour. Take the meat from 
the pan and skim all the fat from the gravy ; place the meat 
in a clean saucepan with one onion sliced, a bouquet of herbs, 
pepper and salt; pour in the gravy, and stew for one hour; add 
a quart of young peas, remove the herbs, simmer fifteen min- 
utes, and serve. 

String beans cut into dice, or boiled macaroni, may be sub- 
stituted for the peas. 

Curry of Mutton. — Put six button-onions, cut fine, and an 
ounce of butter into a saucepan with an ounce of curry-pow- 
der, a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of flour, and half a 
pint of cream ; stir until smooth. Remove the bones from 
two pounds of mutton, cut it into neat pieces, and fry a light 
brown ; put the meat into a saucepan, pour the sauce over it, 
and boil gently one hour and a half. Place the meat on a 
hot dish and arrange a border of broiled rice neatly round it. 

Cold boiled mutton cut into slices may be used instead of 
the raw meat. 

Veal may be used instead of mutton. 

Mutton Hash with Poached Eggs. — Take a pound and a 
half of the remains of roast mutton, chop it up fine, and put 
it in a stew-pan with a cupful of mutton gravy or stock; 
season with salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg; add a 
tablespoonful of Barlow's prepared flour, and let the meat heat 
gradually until hot. Do not let it boil. Simmer tAventy min- 
utes, and serve with poached eggs placed neatly round the dish. 

A spoonful of Worcestershire sauce may be added to the 
dish, if desired. 

Eagout of Mutton. — Slice two turnips, two carrots, and 
two onions ; put them in a saucepan with two ounces of 
butter, and brown them. Dust in a little flour and stir the 
whole to prevent browning too quickly, and turn them out 
upon a hot dish until wanted. 

Cut up cold roast mutton into square pieces, and brown 
them on each side in the same pan in which you browned 
your vegetables ; then add half a pint of hot water, salt and 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 27 

pepper, a few sprigs of parsley, and the sliced vegetables. 
Stew gently until the vegetables are tender ; arrange the 
vegetables in the centre of the dish, with the meat as a bor- 
der; pour the sauce over all, and serve. 

Mutton Pie. — Cut into square pieces about two pounds of 
cold roast or boiled mutton; trim off a portion of the fat; quar- 
ter three kidneys; put the meat into a pie dish, season with 
two tablespoonfuls of chopped parsley, a tablespoonful of 
powdered herbs, salt and pepper, and half an onion minced ; 
add half a pint of light- stock or water, a wineglassful of port 
wine; cover the dish with puff paste, brush an egg over it, and 
bake an hour and a half. 

Cold lamb makes a very nice pie. 

Veal Croquettes. — Kemove the gristle, skin, and sinews 
from a pound of cold veal; mince it finely with four ounces of 
cold boiled beef or calf's tongue ; season with salt, pepper, 
and nutmeg. Put i'lto a saucepan an ounce of butter rolled 
in flour, a wineglassful of cream; add the minced meat, and 
stir for twenty minutes over a slow fire. (If too dry moisten 
with stock.) Turn the preparation upon a round pie-board; 
spread it to a smooth layer about an inch thick, and set it in 
the ice-box to get cold and stiff. It must then be divided 
into about two dozen pieces, each piece rolled into the form 
of a cork or round ball over bread-crumbs, then dipped in 
beaten egg and again rolled in crumbs. Handle carefully so 
as not to break them. Fry in boiling fat. 

Fricassee of Veal. — Take two pounds of lean veal free from 
skin and bone, and cut it into pieces convenient for serving ; 
fry them in melted butter until the flesh is firm without 
having acquired any color ; dredge a tablespoonful of flour 
upon them, add a little grated lemon-peel, and gradually as 
much boiling veal-stock as will cover t'ie meat ; simmer 
until tender. Take out the meat and add to the gravy a gill 
of boiling cream, salt, cayenne, and a pinch of powdered mace. 
Beat the yolks of two eggs in a bowl ; add gradually a little 
of the sauce (after it has cooled a few minutes), then add it 



28 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

carefully to the remainder. Return the meat to the sauce, 
and let the saucepan remain near the fire until the eggs are 
set. Add the juice of halt* a lemon and serve immediately. 

Fricassee of Lamb. — Take a breast of lamb and cut it into 
pieces about an inch and a half square ; season with salt and 
pepper. Put them into a saucepan, with a quartered onion, 
three cloves, a bay-leaf, and three ounces of bu'ter. Cover 
the saucepan closely, and let it steam gently for half an hour, 
shaking it occasionally to prevent sticking. Add a pint of 
boiling water ; cover closely once more and boil gently for 
one hour ; then strain the sauce and thicken with a table- 
spoonful of flour (mix the flour smoothly with a little cold 
water before adding it to the sauce), boil a moment longer, 
and serve. 

A tablespoonf ul of very small A. G-. caj^ers may be added 
before serving. 

Breast of Lamb with Asparagus Tops. — Remove the skin 
and part of the fat from a breasi of lamb, and cut it into neat 
pieces ; dredge a little flour over them, and place them in a 
stew-pan with an ounce of butter ; let them remain until 
nicely browned ; cover the meat with warm water, add a 
bunch of parsley, two button onions; simmer until the meat 
is cooked; skim off the fat, take out the onions and parsley, 
and mince the latter finely ; return it to the gravy with a 
pint of the tops of boiled asparagus, add salt and pepper, 
simmer a few minutes longer, and serve. Canned asparagus 
may be used when the fresh vegetable is out of season. 

Fricassee of Chicken. — Take the remains of a cold chicken, 
cut it into joints, make a gravy by simmering the trimmings 
in stock enough to cover them, with one onion, stock with 
three cloves, a bouquet of herbs,- salt and pepper. Simmer 
the gravy for one hour ; strain and thicken a cupful of it 
with a teaspoonful of flour ; let this boil, then put in the 
chicken. Draw the sauce-pan from the fire a few minutes, 
mix a little of the sauce with the beaten yolks of two eggs 
and a cupful of cream. Add this last mixture to the sauce- 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 29 

pan, let it get hot, but on no account allow it to boil, or the 
eggs will curdle. Serve with the sauce poured over the 
chicken, and sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top. 

Fried Chicken. — Take the remains of a cold chicken, place 
it in a pan, and simmer with an ounce of butter, a finely- 
chopped onion, the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper ; let 
them simmer nearly half an hour ; take the pieces out and 
dredge them in flour, and fry in boiling fat; turn the pieces 
over while cooking, and fry a deep brown. 

Make a dressing of flour, mixed smoothly in a cupful of 
cold milk and a little chopped parsley. Add to the pan that 
the chicken simmered in, boil gently, strain over the chicken 
and serve. 

Chicken with Rice a la Maryland. — Cut up a chicken into 
joints, and put it into a stew-pan with the heart, gizzard, and 
liver, and a slice or two of bacon; cover with warm water, and 
boil gently until the chicken is quite tender ; then take the 
meat out of the stew-pan, and set it where it will be kept 
warm; wash half a pint of rice, add it to the gravy, season 
highly with salt and pepper. When done place the rice 
upon a dish, lay the chicken on top, and if too dry brush a 
little melted butter over it. 

Chicken Croquettes.— Pound the white meat of a cold 
chicken with a cold boiled sweetbread in a mortar ; add a 
little salt, beat up an egg with a teaspoonful of flour and a 
wineglassful of cream; mix the pounded meat with the 
batter, put it in a sauce-pan, and simmer long enough to ab- 
sorb the moisture, stirring all the time; then turn it into a 
flat dish, and set it in the ice-box to get cold and stiff, roll it 
into balls or cones, dip in egg-batter, then roll them in 
crumbs or cracker-dust and fry in boiling fat. 

Chicken a l'ltalienne.— Take half a pound of La Favorita 
macaroni, and boil it in water with a lump of butter. When 
it has boiled a quarter of an hour, drain off the water and 
cover the macaroni with milk ; add salt and pepper and a 



30 Valuable Cooking Beceipts. 

whole onion, stock with a few cloves ; boil until the macaroni 
is tender but unbroken. 

Boil a chicken in the usual manner, cut it up and lay it 
on a hot dish, pour the macaroni over it (remove the onio:i), 
grate a quarter of a pound of Parmesan cheese over the dish, 
and brown it in the oven or with a salamander. 

Chicken Patties. — Pick the meat from a cold chicken, and 
cut it up into small dice ; place it in a sauce-pan with a cup- 
ful of chicken stock, a cupful of cream, a piece of butter 
the size of an egg, rolled in flour, suit and pepper, and a 
little grated nutmeg and lemon-peel ; simmer gently until it 
begins to thicken, remove the dish from the lire a few 
minutes to cool ; beat up the yolks of two eggs with a half 
teaspoonful flour, moistened in milk or cream, and add to the 
sauce-pan, mix thoroughly, and draw towards the fire (but 
do not let it boil) until it thickens ; before serving add the 
juice of half a lemon. 

Fill your patty-shells with the mixture, one for each per- 
son, and serve (see Oyster Patties for patty- shells). 

Chicken Pie. — Line the sides of a pie-dish with a good puff 
paste. Have your chicken cooked as for a fricassee, seasoned 
with salt and pepper and a little chopped parsley. When they 
are nearly cooked lay them in a pie-dish with half a pound 
of salt pork cut into inch squares, and some of the paste cut 
into inch and a half pieces ; pour in a part of the chicken 
gravy, thicken with a little flour, and cover the dish with the 
paste cover. Cut a hole the size of a dollar in the cover, and 
cover it with a piece of dough twice the size of the hole 
(when baked remove this piece occasionally and examine the 
interior), brush egg over the pie, and bake in a quick oven. 

Should the pie become dry pour in more of the gravy. 
Pigeon Pie may be made by the above recipe. 

Chicken Panada (Invalid cookery). — Take a fresh young 
chicken and boil it until quite tender, in sufficient water to 
cover it. Strip the meat from the bones and pound in a 
mortar until quite smooth, with a little of the liquor it was 



Valuable CooMng Receipts. 31 

boiled in ; add salt, nutmeg, and a very little grated 
lemon-peel. Boil this gently for a few minutes, with suffi- 
cient liquid to make it the consistency of custard. 

Chicken with Dumplings. — Disjoint one chicken, and put 
to boil in cold water until done. Make dumplings with 
one pint of flour, one teaspoonful of yeast-powder, and 
same quantity of salt. Wet this mixture with milk and put 
with chicken until boiled. Take them out and fry in hot 
fat until brown ; do same with chicken afterwards. Use 
water in which chicken was boiled to make gravy. 

M. G. H. 

Chicken Toast. — Take the remains of a cold chicken and 
chop up fine, put in a sauce-pan, season with salt and pepper 
and just a little onion, with a lump of butter ; break over 
the meat two or three raw eggs ; stir all together, pour it 
upon nicely-buttered toast, and serve. 

Chicken Liver en Brochette. — Wash the livers in cold 
water, dry them on a towel, and cut them in two; cut slices 
of bacon into pieces about the same size, and put them on a 
skewer alternately, and broil. When done brush over them 
a sauce of melted butter, lemon-juice, pepper and salt. 

Braise of Duck with Turnips. — Prepare a domestic duck as 
for roasting. Line a small pan, just large enough for the 
duck, with slices of bacon; strew over the bottom a little pars- 
ley, powdered herbs, and lemon-peel ; lay in the duck, and 
add a carrot cut into strips, an onion stock with a few cloves, 
and a dozen whole peppers ; cover with stock and add a table 
spoonful of strong vinegar ; baste frequently and simmer until 
done. Fry some slices of turnip in butter to a light brown, 
drain and add them to the stew-pan after removing the duck, 
which should be kept hot. When the turnips are tender re- 
move them, strain the gravy, thickening if necessary with a 
little flour or arrowroot ; put the duck on a dish, throw 
the hot gravy over it, and garnish with the turnips. 

Braise of Duck with Peas. — Prepare and cook a duck as in 
the above receipt, using green peas instead of carrots and 



32 Valuable Cooking Receipts* 

onion, and fry two onions in butter till they are of a pale 
brown; boil them to a thick sauce with some of the duck 
gravy; season with salt and pepper, and serve with the peas 
around the duck and the gravy thrown over. 

Salmi of Wild Duck. — Cut up the remains of two roast, un- 
derdone wild d ticks into neat pieces and set them aside. Take 
the boi.es, giblets, and ragged pieces, and put them in a 
stew-pan with a minced onion or shallot, a saltspoonful salt; 
and a very little Cayenne ; add a pint of stock and a glass 
of port wine, boil gently half an hour, strain and thicken 
the sauce with a teaspoonful of prepared brown flour. Put 
the pieces of duck in a stew-pan, pour the sauce over them, 
and simmer until quite hot. Add the juice of a sour orange 
to the dish and serve. A garnish of olives is considered an 
improvement by some. Soak the olives in cold water one 
hour ; remove the stones with a small vegetable-cutter and 
add them to the sauce, before taking the dish from the 
fire. 

Salmi of Partridge, Hunter's Style. — Take two cold roast 
partridges, cut them into joints, and lay them in a saucepan 
with two ounces of butter, a gill of Bordeaux or port, the 
grated rind and juice of a large lemon, salt, and a little Cay- 
enne ; thicken with a little flour if desired; simmer gently 
until very hot and serve. 

Venison Epicurean. — Cut a steak from the leg or a chop 
from the loin of venison, about an inch and a half thick. 
Put a walnut of butter, salt and pepper, into a chafing-dish ; 
light the spirit-lamp under it, and when the butter melts 
put in the chop or steak; let it cook on one side a few min- 
utes, then turn it over, and add a wineglassful of sherry or 
port and a tablespoonful of currant- jelly. Simmer gently 
about seven minutes if it is to be eaten rare, and allow twelve 
minutes cooking if required well done. 

Hot plates and a glass of Mr. Clair's old East India Madeira 
are all that is requisite to make the feast Apician in character. 

Venison Chops, broiled and served with currant-jelly, are 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 83 

not to bo despised. Trim the ends as you would a French 
lamb-chop. 

Breast of Venison may be dressed according to the receipt 
given for breast of mutton. - 

Venison Patties. — Make a nicely-flavored mince of the re- 
mains of cold roast venison ; moisten it with a little sherry 
or gravy, and warm it in a saucepan ; fill the patty-shells with 
the meat and serve. (See oyster patty for patty-shells.) 

Broiled Tripe. — Cut up honeycomb tripe into pieces of three 
to four inches wide ; rub a little oil or melted butter over 
them, dredge them in flour, and broil over a charcoal fire ; 
squeeze a little lemon-juice over each piece, and serve. 

Never broil tripe over a hard-coal fire ; the gases arising 
from the coal spoil the flavor of the tripe, making it indi- 
gestible and unpalatable. 

Tripe Lyonnaise. — Take a pound of cold boiled tripe and 
cut it into pieces an inch square. Dissolve two ounces of but- 
ter in a frying-pan, add a sliced onion to it, and fry until it 
is tender. Put the pieces of tripe with the onion, a table- 
spoonful of chopped parsley, a tablespoonf ul of vinegar, salt, 
and a little cayenne ; heat all gently together. Cover the 
bottom of a platter with tomato-sauce, add the tripe and 
serve. 

Tripe Fricassee. — Cut up the tripe into square pieces; put 
them into a stew-j^an with a blade of mace, a bouquet of herbs, 
an onion quartered, salt, and cayenne. Cover the tripe with 
Rhine wine or water and a little vinegar ; stew for one hour. 
Strain the sauce ; put the tripe and sauce in a clean sauce- 
pan, with a walnut of butter rolled in flour, a gill of cream, 
a tablespoonful chopped parsley. Simmer ten minutes, 
squeeze in the juice of a lemon, and serve. 

Pork and Beans. — Wash a quart of beans thoroughly ; cover 
them with cold water and let them soak over-night. Change 
the water in the morning onqe or twice. Then put them in 



34 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

a pot and simmer slowly for three hours until they begin to 
crack open ; pour them into a colander to drain off all the 
water. Heat an earthen bean-pot with hot water, and wipe 
it dry ; place a small piece of pork on the bottom of the pot 
and pour in the beans. Cut the rind of another piece of 
pork into strips, and sink it into the beans, leaving only 
the rind of the pork exposed at the top. Dissolve a table- 
spoonful of New Orleans molasses, with a teaspoonful of 
salt, in a pint of warm water, and add it to the pot; set it 
in the oven and bake slowly for three or four hours, or place 
the pot in a baker's oven over-night, instructing the baker to 
add a little water to the pot should the beans become dry. 
Serve with Boston brown bread. 

Baked Macaroni. — For a small dish one-half pound maca- 
roni, boiled until soft, with a little salt in the water. Drain 
through a colander ; then put in the baking-dish, with one 
pint and a half of milk, a lump of butter, pepper and salt, 
and grated cheese (enough to suit taste), and distribute 
over top. Bake in a hot oven until brown. M. G. h. 

Rice Croquettes. — Put a quarter of a pound of Carolina 
"head "rice, one pint of milk, three tablespoonfuls of powder- 
ed sugar, a walnut of butter, and a teaspoonful of best ex- 
tract of "\anilla into a saucepan; simmer gently until the 
rice is tender and the milk absorbed. It must be boiled until 
thick and dry, or it will be difficult to mould it into croquettes. 
Beat it thoroughly for three or four minutes ; turn it out on 
a flat tin, and when cold and stiff form it into balls or cones ; 
dip these in beaten egg f roll lightly in crumbs, and fry in 
hot fat or butter. 



VEGETABLE ENTREES. 

Stuffed Tomatoes. — Take six ripe tomatoes of equal size ; 
cut off the tops and scoop out the insides ; press the pulp 
through a sieve and mix with it a little salt and cayenne, 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 35 

two ounces of butter broken into little pieces, and two heap- 
ing tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs ; fill the tomatoes with 
the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven. Before serving 
them brown the stuffing by holding a salamander or a small 
shovel containing hot coals over them. 

Any good force-meat may be used to stuff tomatoes ; the 
remains of game or poultry minced, and mixed with herbs 
and bread-crumbs, seasoned and bound together with yolk 
of egg, will suit the most fastidious. 

Stuffed Egg-Plant. — Cut the egg-plant in two ; scrape out all 
the inside and put it in a saucepan with a little minced ham ; 
cover with water and boil until soft ; drain off the water ; 
add two tablespoonfuls grated crumbs, tablespoonful butter, 
half a minced onion, salt, and pepper ; stuff each half of the 
hull with the mixture ; add a small lump of butter to each 
and bake fifteen minutes. 

Stuffed Egg-Plant, No. 2.— Pare off the purple rind of the 
egg-plant and quarter it ; round off the edges as neatly as pos- 
sible, then place them in salt and water for an hour. Take 
them out of the water, scrape out the centre, and mix it with 
a force-meat of veal, bread-crumbs, seasoning, and yolk of 
egg ; put the mixture in the hollow egg-plant, with a lump 
of butter upon the top of each, and bake a light brown. 

Stuffed Potatoes. — Take a number of firm-skin potatoes of 
equal size ; clean them well and bake them. When done 
cut off a piece of the end of each potato and scoop out as 
much of the inside as can be obtained without injury to the 
skin ; mash it with cream and butter ; add a little salt ; set 
the dish on the range to keep hot. Take the whites of three 
eggs, whip them to a froth, and add to the potatoes ; mix all 
together ; simmer until quite hot ; fill up the skins with the 
potato paste ; fasten the covers with white of egg, and bake 
fifteen minutes. 

Potato Balls. — Boil a small potful of potatoes ; wash them 
well, and mix with them butter, salt, chopped parsley or 
chives, grated nutmeg, and two raw eggs ; work the paste Into 



36 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

small balls, dip in beaten egg, roll in cracker-dust or flour, 
and fry. 

Potato Cake. — Take half a pound of dry mealy potatoes, 
either baked or boiled ; mash them until they are free from 
lumps ; mix with them three ounces of flour, salt and pepper, 
and as much lukewarm milk and butter as will make a 
smooth, firm dough ; add one egg and half a teaspoonful of 
Koyal Baking Powder. Koll the paste out with a rolling- 
pin till it is nearly two inches thick ; dredge a little flour 
over it, and cut it out the exact size of the frying-pan. 
Kub the pan over with butter ; lay the cake carefully into 
it ; cover with a plate ; shake it every now and then to pre- 
vent it burning ; when it is half done on one side turn it over 
carefully on the other. Serve on a hot dish with plenty of 
good fresh butter. 

Cold potatoes, if dry and mealy, may be warmed up in this 
manner. 

Sweet potatoes make very good potato cake. 

Potato Fritters. — Burst open four nicely-baked potatoes ; 
scoop out the insides with a spoon, and mix with them a 
wineglassful of cream, a tablespoonful of brandy, two table- 
spoonfuls of powdered sugar, the juice of one lemon, half a 
teaspoonful of Thurber's best extract vanilla, and the well- 
beaten yolks of four and the whites of three eggs ; beat the 
batter for several minutes until it is quite smooth, and drop 
large tablespoonf uls of the mixture into boiling fat, and fry a 
light brown ; dust powdered sugar over them, and send to 
table. 

Parsnip Fritters. — Boil four good-sized parsnips in salted 
water until tender; drain them, beat them to a pulp, and 
squeeze the water from them as much as possible ; bind them 
together with a beaten egg and a little flour. Shape them 
into cakes, and fry in hot fat. 

Oyster-Plant Croquettes. — Wash, scrape, and boil the oyster- 
plant till tender ; rub it through a colander, and mix with 
the pulp a little butter, cream, salt, cayenne, and lemon- 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 37 

juice ; mix the ingredients thoroughly together to a smooth 
paste, and set the dish in the icebox to get cold ; then shape 
it into small cones, dip them in beaten egg and roll in crumbs, 
and fry crisp and brown. 

Fritters. — The following receipt will serve for' many kinds 
of fruit or vegetable fritters : Make a batter of ten ounces of 
flour, half a pint of milk, and two ounces of butter ; sweeten 
and flavor to taste ; add a glass of brandy, rum, or sherry ; 
stir in the whites of two eggs well beaten ; dip the fruit in the 
batter, and fry. Small fruit and vegetables should be mixed 
with the battel. 

Arrowroot for Batters and Sauces. — Arrowroot may be used 
to thicken batters, sauces, etc., for those who object to butter, 
as invalids very often do. Mix a tablespoonful of Beatty's 
Bermuda Arrowroot smoothly with a little cold water, and 
stir it into a pint of the batter or sauce. 

Omelettes. — Numerous kinds of omelettes may be served as 
the last entree, and, if properly made, they generally give satis- 
faction. As a rule an omelette is a wholesome, inexpensive 
dish, but yet one in the preparation of which cooks frequently 
fail owing to ignorance of detail. The flavoring and the 
ingredients used may be varied indefinitely, but the process 
is always the same. In making an omelette care should be 
taken that the frying-pan is hot -and dry. The best way to 
ensure this is to put a small quantity of fat into the pan, let 
it simmer a few minutes, then pour' it out ; wipe the pan dry 
with a towel and put in a little fresh fat, in which the ome- 
lette should be fried ; care should be taken that the fat does 
not burn, thereby spoiling the color of the omelette. 

It is better to make two or three small omelettes than one 
large one. The eggs should be but slightly beaten, just long 
enough to mix them, and no more ; a tablespoonful of cream to 
every two eggs will be found an improvement. Salt mixed with 
the eggs prevents them from rising and gives the omelette a 
flabby appearance ; without salt your omelette will taste 



38 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

insipid ; sprinkle a little salt on the omelette just before turn- 
ing out on the dish. 

Oyster Omelette. — Stew six oysters in their own liquor ; re- 
move the oysters and thicken the liquid with butter rolled in 
flour ; season with salt, cayenne, and mix with it a teaspoon- 
ful chopped parsley. Chop up the oysters and add them to 
the sauce ; simmer gently until the sauce thickens. Beat 
three eggs lightly with a tablespoonful and a half of cream, 
and fry until they are delicately set ; before folding over put 
a few spoonfuls of the mixture in the centre ; turn it out 
carefully on a hot dish, with the balance of the sauce round 
it, and serve immediately. 

If small oysters are used put them in the centre of the 
omelette, whole, fold and serve with sauce round it. 

Rum Omelette. — Fry an omelette in the usual way ; fold it 
with a little salt, and turn it out on a hot dish ; dust sugar 
over it, and singe the sugar into stripes with a hot iron rod ; 
pour a wineglassful of warm rum round the omelette, set a 
light to it, and send to table flaming. 

Omelette Souffle. — Break six eggs into separate cups ; beat 
four of the yolks, and mix with them a teaspoonfnl of flour, 
three tablespoonful s of powdered sugar, very little salt, and 
any flavoring extract that maybe preferred. Whisk the white 
of the six eggs to a firm froth ; mix them lightly with the 
yolks ; pour the mixture into a greased pan or dish, and bake 
in a quick oven. When it is well risen and lightly browned 
on the top it is done; take it out of the oven, dust a little 
powdered sugar over it carefully, and send to table imme- 
diately. It must be served in the same dish in which it is 
baked. 

Welsh Rarebit. — Select the richest and best American fac- 
tory cheese — the milder it is the better, as the melting brings 
out the strength. To make five rarebits take one pound of 
cheese, grate it, and put it in a tin or porcelain-lined saucepan ; 
add ale enough to thin the cheese sufficiently, say about a 
w ineglassful to each rarebit ; stir until all is melted. Have a 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 39 

slice of toast ready for each rarebit (crusts trimmed) ; put a 
slice on each plate, and pour cheese enough over each piece to 
cover it. Eat while hot. 

To make a « Golden Buck."— A " Golden Buck " is merely 
the addition of a poached egg, which is put carefully on the 
top of the rarebit. 

"Yorkshire Rarebit." — This is the same as a "Golden 
Buck," only it has two thin slices of broiled bacon on the top. 
— George Browne, in Thurber's Epicure, 

[See Vegetables, page 90.] 



BOASTING, 



Roasting is an excellent method of rendering food whole- 
some and nourishing. Without making any great change in 
the chemical properties of meat it renders it more tender and 
highly flavored, while there is not so much waste of its nutri- 
tive juices as in baking. But where can the average American 
get a slice of roast beef ? Our homes are not provided with 
spits, bottle-jacks, Dutch ovens, and the like ; and as a very 
sensible writer in the New York Times stated, "ninety- 
nine roasts in the United States are baked in ovens, and 
there is no help for it." I can see no possible way out of the 
dilemma but to submit gracefully to baked meats for ever. 
The leading hotels and restaurants overcome the difficulty 
by purchasing the very best of beef, and keeping it from 
eight to fifteen days in their ice-houses. Thus the excellent 
quality of the beef overcomes, in a measure, the bad effects 
created by the superheated volatile portions that escape from 
the beef during the process of baking. 

No finer, better, or sweeter piece of meat was ever tasted, 
either in England or America, than the Astor House roast 
beef ; and the secret is in securing the best quality, and tak- 
ing proper care of it before submitting it to the oven. 

Roast Beef. — The best roasting-pieces are the fore and mid- 
dle ribs and the sirloin. The chuck-ribs, although cheaper, 



40 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

w 

are not as profitable to families, there being too much waste 
in the carving of them. The ends of the ribs should be re- 
moved from the flank, and the latter folded under the beef 
and securely fastened with skewers. Rub a little salt into 
the fat part ; place the meat in the dripping-pan with a pint 
of stock or water ; baste freely, and dredge with flour half 
an hour before taking the joint from the oven. 

Should the oven be very hot place a buttered paper over 
the meat to prevent it scorching while yet raw, in which case 
it will need very little basting ; or turn the rib side up to- 
wards the fire for the first twenty minutes. The time it will 
take in cooking depends entirely upon the thickness of the 
joint and the length of time it has been killed. Skim 
the fat from the gravy and add a tablespoonful of prepared 
brown flour and a glass of sherry to the remainder. 

Roast Loin of Veal. — Make an incision in the flank or skirt 
of the loin of veal, and into the cavity thus made, just over 
the end of the bone, put a well-flavored veal force-meat. Roll 
in the flank to cover the kidney-fat, and bind it firmly with 
string or tape. Place a few small veal bones with a few as- 
sorted vegetables, cut up, in a dripping-pan ; put the loin 
upon this bed, add half a pint of stock or water, and set it in 
the oven for twenty minutes ; in the meantime work togeth- 
er a tablespoonful of flour with two tablespoonfuls of melted 
butter ; draw the joint from the oven, baste it with the flour 
and butter, return it to the oven again, and baste occasion- 
ally until done. 

Veal should be thoroughly done. When it is under-done 
it is decidedly indigestible and should be avoided. 

The breast of veal boned, with a layer of force-meat spread 
over the inside and rolled and tightly bound, may be substi- 
tuted for loin of veal. 

% Mutton. — The choicest mutton in the United States comes 
from the mountainous regions of Pennsylvania. The ani- 
mals are semi-domestic and almost as shy and as timid as a 
deer. In 1878 Col. Duffy, one of Pennsylvania's fish com- 
missioners, dined a party of English gentlemen on mountain- 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 41 

mutton, and they pronounced it the finest-flavored morsel of 
venison they had ever eaten. 

Roast Leg of Mutton. — Take a leg of well-kept mutton, 
rub it lightly with salt, and put it in a dripping-pan with a 
very little water ; cut a potato in two lengthwise, and set 
it under the leg; baste with a little good dripping at first, 
and when within twenty minutes of being done, dredge it 
with flour to get it frothed. Turn the joint two or three 
times while cooking. Time, about a quarter of an hour to 
the pound. 

Loin of Mutton. — Follow the directions given for roast leg 
of mutton, but trim off all unnecessary fat, cover the joint 
with paper until within twenty minutes of its being done, 
then remove, baste, and flour slightly ; serve with currant-jel- 
ly. If properly cooked and served hot it is a royal dish, but 
if the fat is not turned to account, a very expensive one. 

Lamb. — Put a four or five pound joint of lamb in a drip- 
ping-pan with a gill of stock or water ; salt and pepper ; 
roll two ounces of butter in a very little flour, divide it 
into small pieces, and add it here and there upon the 
meat ; set the pan in a moderate oven, and baste frequently 
until done. 

Skim the fat from the gravy, and serve with the lamb ; or 
serve mint-sauce with the joint. 

Mint Sauce. — Wash the sprigs of mint, let them dry on a 
towel, strip off the leaves, and chop them very fine ; put in 
a sauce-boat with a cupful of vinegar and four lumps of 
sugar; let it stand an hour, and before serving stir all togeth- 
er. Mint sauce, if bottled, will keep for some time, and be 
just as good, if not better, than it was the first day. 

Saddle of Lamb. — A saddle of lamb is a dainty joint for a 
small party. Sprinkle a little salt over it, and set it in 
the dripping-pan, with a few small pieces of butter on the 
meat; baste it occasionally with tried-out lamb-fat; dredge 



42 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

a little flour over it a few minutes before taking from the 
oven. Serve with the very best of currant-jelly, and send to 
table with it a few choice early vegetables. Mint-sauce may 
be served with the joint, but in a very mild form. 

Pork. — Pork, more than any other meat, requires to be 
chosen with the greatest care. The pig, from its gluttonous 
habits, is particularly liable to disease; and if killed and 
eaten when in an unhealthy condition, those who partake of 
it will probably pay dearly for their indulgence. Dairy-fed 
pork is the best; and knowing this fact, a number of our 
first-class hotels raise their own pork on farms connected 
with their country residences. Among them may be men- 
tioned the Continental Hotel, Philadelphia; the Astor, Union 
Square, Sturtevant, Hoffman, Fifth Avenue, Windsor, and 
several other leading hotels in New York City. We are in- 
debted to Chas. Lamb for the history of roast pig. In his 
essays he says : " The art of roasting, or rather broiling (which 
I take to be the elder brother), was accidentally discovered in 
the manner following : The swineherd Ho-ti, having gone 
out into the woods one morning, as his manner was, to collect 
rnast for his hogs, left his cottage in the care of his eldest 
son, Bo bo, a great, lubberly boy, who, being fond of playing 
with fire, let some sparks escape into a bundle of straw, 
which, kindling quickly, spread the conflagration over every 
part of their poor mansion till it was reduced to ashes. 
Together with the cottage, what was of much more im- 
portance, a fine litter of new farrowed pigs, no less than 
nine in number, perished. Bo bo was in the utmost con- 
sternation, as you may think, not so much for the sake of 
the tenement — which his father and he could easily build up 
again with a few dry branches, and the labor of an hour or 
two, at any time — as for the loss of the pigs. While he was 
thinking what he should say to his father, and wringing his 
hands, an odor assailed his nostrils unlike any scent which 
he had before experienced. What could it proceed from ? 
Not from the burnt cottage; he had smelt that before. In- 
deed, this was by no means the first accident which had oc- 



Valuable Coolcing Receipts. 43 

curred through the negligence of this unlucky firebrand. 
A premonitory moistening at the same time overflowed his 
nether lip. He knew not what to think. He next stooped down 
to feel the pig, if there were any signs of life in it. He burnt 
his fingers, and to cool them he applied them in his booby 
fashion to his mouth. Some of the crumbs of the scorched 
skin had come away with his fingers, and for the first time 
in his life (in the world's, indeed, for before him no man 
had known it) he tasted — crackling! Again he felt and 
fumbled at the pig. It did not burn him so much now; 
still, he licked his fingers from a sort of habit. The truth 
at length broke into his slow understanding that it was the 
pig that smelt so and the pig that tasted so delicious ; and 
surrendering himself up to the new-born pleasure, he fell to 
tearing up whole handfuls of the scorched skin, with the 
flesh next it, and was cramming it down his throat in his 
beastly fashion when his sire entered amid (he smoking 
rafters, and, finding how affairs stood, began to rain blows 
upon the young rogue's shoulders as thick as hailstones, 
which Bo-bo heeded not any more than if they had been 
flies. The tickling pleasure which he experienced in his lower 
regions had rendered him quite callous to any inconveniences 
he might feel in those remote quarters. Bo-bo's scent, be- 
ing wonderfully sharpened since morning, soon raked out 
another pig, and, fairly rending it asunder, thrust the 
lesser half by main force into the fists of Ho-ti, still shout- 
ing out, ' Eat, eat ! Eat the burnt pig, father! Only taste !' 
It is needless to state that both father and son despatched 
the remainder of the litter. Bo-bo was strictly enjoined not 
to let the secret escape. Nevertheless strange stories got 
about; it was observed that Ho-ti's cottage was burnt down 
now more frequently than ever. As often as the sow far- 
rowed, so soon was the house of Ho-ti seen to be in a blaze. 
At length they were watched, the terrible mystery discovered, 
and father and son summoned to take their trial at Peking, 
then an inconsiderable assize town. Evidence was given, 
the obnoxious food itself produced in court, and verdict 
about to be pronounced, when the foreman of the jury 



44 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

begged that some of the burnt pig of which the culprit 
stood accused might be handed into the box. He handled 
it, and they all handled it ; and burning their fingers as 
Bo-bo and his father had done before them, and nature 
prompting to each of them the same remedy, against the face 
of all the facts and the clearest charge which judge had ever 
given, to the surprise of the whole court, townsfolk, strangers, 
reporters (they had Howards and Eaymonds in those days), 
and all present, without leaving the box, or any manner of 
consultation whatever, they brought in a simultaneous 
verdict of not guilty." 

Dr. Kitchiner on Pork. — " Take particular care it be done 
enough. Other meats underdone are unpleasant, but pork is 
absolutely uneatable; the sight of it is enough to appall the. 
sharpest appetite, if its gravy has the least tint of redness. 
Be careful of the crackling; if this be not crisp, or if it be 
burned, you will be scolded." 

The Turkey. — The turkey, says Brillat-Savarin, " is the 
largest, and, if not the most delicate, at least the most 
savory of domestic poultry. It enjoys the singular advan- 
tage of assembling around it every class of society. When 
our farmers and wine-growers regale themselves on a winter's 
evening, what do we see roasting before the kitchen fire, 
close to which the white-clothed table is set? A turkey ! 
When the useful tradesman or the hard-worked artist in- 
vites a few friends to an occasional treat, what dish is he 
expected to set before them? A nice roast turkey stuffed 
with sausage-meat and Lyons chestnuts. And in our high- 
est gastronomical society, when politics are obliged to give 
way to dissertations on matters of taste, what is desired, 
what is awaited, what is looked out for at the second 
course ? A truffled turkey. In my ' Secret Memoirs ' I 
find sundry notes recording that on many occasions its res- 
torative juice has illumined diplomatic faces of the highest 
eminence." 

Now, the average American could not be induced to eat a 
turkey stuffed with sausage-meat ; he would naturally say 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 45 

that if the useful tradesman " or the hard-working artist" 
experienced any pleasure over such a compound, he was wel- 
come to it; to him sausage-meat was too suggestive of pork 
and — mystery. But the Lyons chestnuts — ah! yes, that will 
do, for he has tasted chestnut stuffing and has learned to 
like it. A dissertation on truffles, while waiting for the 
"truffled, turkey" to be served, is all that is necessary to 
make him say he is passionately fond of them in any form, 
otherwise he would be apt to ask the waiter to remove the 
dressing from his plate, "as it was full of small pieces of 
charcoal " (an actual occurrence). 

Roast Turkey. — Singe the bird, and in drawing it preserve 
the heart, gizzard, and liver; remove the gall-bag from the 
liver, and be very careful not to break it, as if any of the 
liquid touches the bird no amount of washing will remove 
the bitter taste. Cut off the neck close to the body, and be- 
fore doing so push back the skin of the neck so that suffi- 
cient may be left on to turn over the back; remove a part of 
the fat adhering to the skin; split the breast-bone from the 
inside, or place several folds of cloth on the high breast-bone 
and break and flatten it a little with a rolling-pin to make 
the bird look plump. Fill the breast and body with stuffing; 
sew up the opening with coarse thread; turn the neck-skin 
over the back and fasten it; truss the legs close to the breast, 
the wings turn over the back, using skewers or twine to hold 
them in proper position. Put the turkey in the dripping-pan 
with a little hot water, dredge it with flour, and lay a few 
small pieces of butter upon it, and the feet, scalded and 
scraped, under it. Baste frequently. Time, from two to three 
hours, according to the size of the bird. 

Should he prove to be of doubtful age and rich in spurs 
and scaly feet, parboil him. Put him in a saucepan or pot, 
cover with cold water, add a teaspoonful of salt, and when 
the water comes to a boil take out the bird and dry it well 
before stuffing it. 

Chestnut Stuffing. — Roast a pint of chestnuts and peel off 
the outer and inner skin; weigh them, and simmer half a pound 



46 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

of them for twenty minutes in as much veal gravy as will 
cover them; drain and let them cool; then pound them in a 
mortar with four ounces of butter, three ounces of bread- 
crumbs, a trifle of grated lemon-peel and powdered mace, 
salt, and a pinch of cayenne; bind the mixture with the yolks 
of three eggs. 

Chestnuts roasted or boiled may be added to almost any 
stuffing for fowl, etc., and give general satisfaction. I once 
made a stuffing of chestnuts, apple-sauce, bread-crumbs, and 
the proper seasoning for a 'possum, and all who tasted of it 

pronounced it a dainty dish. One of the party, Dr. H , 

never tires of talking about " that 'possum with the chest- 
nuts." 

Oyster Stuffing. — Remove the heart (or what some call the 
eye) from two dozen oysters, mince them finely, pound them 
to a paste, and mix with them five ounces of bread-crumbs, an 
ounce of butter, the grated rind of half a lemon, atablespoon- 
ful of chopped parsley, a pinch of cayenne, an even teaspoon- 
ful of salt, and half a teaspoonful of pepper. When well 
mixed bind the mixture with the yolk of an egg and a small 
quantity of the oyster liquid added gradually. 

Bread Stuffing. — Grate sufficient bread to fill the bird; mois- 
ten it with milk, and season with salt, pepper, sweet marjo- 
ram, and the grated rind of one lemon. Add a tablespoonful 
of butter, and bind the mixture with yolk of egg. Add a 
few raw whole oysters, if desired. 

Roast Capon. — They should be managed in the same way 
as turkeys, and served with the same sauces. I cannot quite 
come to the conclusion that a roast capon is equal in flavor to 
one boiled and served with egg-sauce. 

Roast Chicken. — Singe your chickens and truss them care- 
fully. Broilers, as they are called, are better without stuff- 
ing, unless they are very large. Season with salt, put small 
bits of butter over the meat, and place them in the pan with 
a little water or veal stock; baste occasionally and dredge 



Valuable Cooking Receipts, 47 

with flour before taking from the oven. A few tarragon 
leaves with the sauce are acceptable. 

A spring chicken cooked in any style is not to be despised 
by any means, but I quite agree with that appreciative epicure, 
Mr. Sam Ward, when he said: 

" To roast spring chickens is to spoil 'em ; 
Just split 'em down the back and broil 'em." 

Roast Pigeon. — Raise the skin from the breast-bones of the 
pigeons with your finger; make a small quantity of finely-fla- 
vored stuffing, and stuff it between the skin and flesh, using 
care not to break the skin. Fasten a long, thin slice of 
bacon over the breasts of the birds with toothpicks; put them 
in a dripping-pan with a little water, and diedge with flour. 
When done remove the bacon, set them neatly around the 
edge of a dish, fill the centre with new green peas or Godil- 
lot French peas, and serve. (A favorite dish of the members 
of the Club of Lindenthorpe, on the Delaware.) 

Roast Domestic Duck. — Americans, as a rule, do not take 
kindly to domestic duck, owing to its peculiar flavor and 
richness, and also to the fact of the bird being usually accom- 
panied with a very highly-seasoned onion stuffing. Never- 
theless, a young domestic duck stuffed with a bread stuffing 
seasoned with salt, pepper, sage, and a suspicion of onion, is 
a dish that should often appear upon the tables of our 
American families. A pair of ducklings with no other stuff- 
ing than an onion placed inside the birds while roasting, and 
removed before serving, will make a splendid dinner for a 
family of five or six. Serve with apple-fritters or apple- 
sauce. 

Roast Goose. — Singe, draw, and truss the goose, and, if an 
old one, parboil it. The best stuffing for a goose is a sage- 
and-onion stuffing. The way in which this is made must de- 
pend upon the taste of those who have to eat it. If a strong 
flavor of onions is liked the onion should be chopped raw. 
If this is not the case they should be boiled in one or two 
waters, and mixed with bread-crumbs, powdered sage, salt 



48 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

and pepper, nutmeg, and two small apples chopped fine; fill 
the bird with the stuffing, sew it up with coarse thread, 
sprinkle salt over it, and set it in a pan with a little warm 
water; haste frequently, and do not take it from the oven 
until thoroughly cooked. 

Ham a la Russe.— If the ham he hard and salty soak it for 
several hours. If a fresh-cured Ferris ham it will not need 
soaking. Trim and cut away all the rusty parts, and co- 
ver it with a coarse paste of flour and water half an inch 
thick, and fasten it securely to prevent the juice escaping. 
Time, from three to four hours, according to size of the ham. 
Eemove the paste and skin while the ham is hot, cover the 
fat with a sugar paste ( see boiled ham) moistened with port, 
and return it to the oven a few minutes to brown. 

The Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, makes a specialty of 
Ham d la Russe, and it is a splendid dish served with cham- 
pagne-sauce. 

Canvas-Back Duck. — Pluck, draw, and singe the duck; wipe 
out the blood from the inside with a clean towel; cut off the 
head and neck, and put them in the body of the duck, allow- 
ing the head to protrude. Sprinkle a little celery-salt over 
the breast, with a bit of butter; put it on a small buttered 
pan, and set it in the oven for seventeen minutes. Serve 
with currant- jelly. 

A few outer stalks of celery placed inside the duck will 
improve its flavor. 

A red-head duck stuffed with grated bread, chopped celery, 
seasoning, and mixed with yolk of egg, will taste very much 
like a canvas-back. 

A blue- winged teal duck is very nice broiled. Cut it down 
the back, brush a little melted butter over it, and broil, keep- 
ing the inner part of the duck to the fire most of the 
time. To roast a teal place a strip of bacon over the breast 
and set it in the oven for fifteen minutes. 

Roast Venison. — Take a leg of well-kept venison, wipe it 
thoroughly, rub a little salt over it, and dredge with flour. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 49 

Place it in a dripping-pan with the ragged pieces you have 
trimmed off of it, and a little water or wine. Put small bits 
of butte.* here and there over the meat, set it in the oven, and 
baste frequently till clone. If the leg is not very fat it is a 
good plan to lard it with strips of bacon or pork. Serve 
with currant-jelly, and don't forget the hot plates. 

I am not a lover of venison a l'Anglaise, for I do not fancy 
the flour paste daubed over the meat as most English cooks 
prepare it, though the buttered paper is an advantage when 
cooking large joints of game. 

Roast Prairie Chicken. — The bird being a little strong, 
and its flesh when cooked a little dry, it should be either 
larded or wide strips of bacon or pork placed over its breast. 
A mild seasoned stuffing will improve the flavor of old 
birds. Dust a little flour over them, baste occasionally, 
and serve. 

Pheasants may be managed in the same manner. 

Roast Quail. — Pluck and draw the birds, rub a little butter 
over them, tie a strip of bacon over the breasts, and set 
them in the oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes. 

Roast Woodcock. — Pluck the bird carefully, do not cut 
off the head or draw the trail; punch a few holes' in the 
back of the bird with a fork, and lay it in the pan on a piece 
of buttered toast. A little salt is all the seasoning required. 
Time, twenty minutes. A woodcock is the only game- 
bird I send to table without currant- jelly ; its own fine 
flavor needs no bush. 

Roast Snipe. — Pluck and draw the snipe, preserving the 
trail and head ; tie a thin strip of bacon over the breast; 
chop up the trail and spread it on buttered toast (one slice 
for each bird); lay the birds in the pan with the toast be- 
tween them, and roast twenty minutes. Remove the bacon, 
place the birds on the toast, and serve. 

Rail-Birds. — Rail-birds are decidedly inferior to either 
snipe or woodcock. They should be skinned, as much of 



50 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

their rankness lies in the skin. The trail is a trifle too 
strong for the average American palate. They make a very 
good pie ; manage them as yon would snipe for roasting, 
broiling, etc. 

Reed-Birds. — These delicious "lumps of sweetness," as 
they are appropriately called, are always acceptable, but to 
thoroughly appreciate a reed-bird dinner one must mingle 
with the gunners on the Delaware Kiver as guest or mem- 
ber of one of the many clubs whose houses are situated 
within a few hundred yards from the hunting-grounds. 

After the judge's decision as to who has high boat the 
birds are plucked (and at some of the club-houses drawn) 
arranged neatly in a dripping-pan with bits of fresh coun- 
try butter between them. They are allowed to cook on 
one side a few minutes, and with a long-handled spoon are 
turned over to brown the other side. A little salt is added, 
and they are then placed upon a hot platter en pyramids and 
the gravy poured over them; they are then sent to table 
with fried chip potatoes. The scene that follows baffles de- 
scription. Not a voice is heard, " at least as long as the birds 
last." The painful silence is only broken by the sounds of 
crumbling bones between the teeth of the assemblage, and 
an occasional More birds, Mr. Caterer ! from that prince of 
gourmets, Mayor S . 

Reed-Birds a la Lindenthorpe. — On "Ladies' Day" the 
members of this club are more particular than on "mem- 
bers' day." They prepare the birds by drawing the trail 
and removing the heads; they then take large sweet 
or Irish potatoes, cut them in two, scoop out the in sides, 
and put an oyster or a small piece of bacon inside of each 
bird, and put the birds inside the potato, tie them up with 
twine, and bake until the potatoes are done. The common 
twine is then removed and the potatoes are tied with a narrow 
piece of white or colored tape, in a neat bow-knot, and sent 
to table on a napkin. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 51 



SALADS. 

There is not a dish in the gastronomic vocabulary that 
varies in composition more than a salad. And the reasons 
for it are many. Among them may be mentioned climatic 
influences and the personal habits of individuals. The in- 
dividual who lives well, and who considers a meal imperfect 
without a wine or malt beverage, will sooner or later learn 
to use condiments to such an extent as to alarm the more 
temperate at table. A salad prepared for the majority, he 
will tell you, cloys on his palate ; and, after the first mouth- 
ful he resorts to cayenne and vinegar to ''tone up" the 
salad to suit his taste. After this ungenerous act the close 
observer will notice confusion upon the face of the salad- 
composer, who felt confident that he had prepared a salad to 
suit the taste of the most fastidious. But my friend the 
salad-mixer should not get offended; he should keep in 
view one fact — that a palate abused by the constant use of 
tobacco and other stimulants requires more sharp and pun- 
gent seasoning than one accustomed to these things only in 
moderation, and that a strictly temperate person requires 
less of condiments than either of them. 

The dyspeptic's case is entirely different. He will com- 
plain of a salad in any form, accusing the oil of causing all 
his trouble. But he is wrong. Let him stop flooding his 
food with liquids that only dilute and weakeu the gastric 
juices of the stomach and he will soon be rid of dyspepsia 
and learn to love salads as much as other people. The 
habit of washing down each mouthful of food with liquids 
is a deplorable one, and the person that does it invites dys- 
pepsia by so doing. Persons who are in the habit of eating 
salads late at night, and who complain of indigestion next 
morning, will find it to their advantage to add half a tea- 
spoonful of chicken pepsin to each pint of Mayonnaise ; by 
so doing digestion is assisted, and everyone will feel very 
much better next day. 

In catering for families I invariably add pepsin to the 
dressing, but until now have kept it a secret, not liking the 



52 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

idea of being accused of mixing medicine with the food. 
Nevertheless I have been amply rewarded by receiving more 
orders than I could personally attend to. 
The following letter will explain itself : 

Sharpless & Sons, 801 to 807 Chestnut St., 
Philadelphia, March 7, 1879. 
Mr. Murrey, Continental Hotel : 

Dear Sir : Please send two quarts of chicken salad 
manipulated by yourself ; the last we had prepared by you 
left a pleasant recollection. Send up promptly at five 
o'clock, and oblige, C. H. Hamrick. 

Lettuce Salad. — Take a good-sized head of lettuce and pull 
the leaves apart. Wash them a moment in a little water, 
then shake off the water and dry the leaves in a napkin by 
taking hold of the four corners and shaking it. Examine 
them carefully, wipe off all grit, and reject all bruised leaves; 
place them in a salad-bowl large enough to dress them 
in nicely without scattering a part of them over the table. 
Mix one salt-spoonful of salt, one salt- spoonful of fresh 
ground pepper, and a dust of cayenne with a tablespoonful 
of oil in a salad-spoon; pour this over the lettuce, and add 
two more tablespoonfuls of oil ; next toss the salad lightly 
with a salad spoon and fork, and, lastly, add a tablespoonful 
of vinegar; toss it gently once or twice and send to table. 
To be eaten at once. Never cut lettuce. Should you wish to 
divide the leaves tear them apart gently. But it is not 
always necessary to tear the leaves, should they appear 
too large to eat gracefully. With the assistance of your 
knife you can wrap the leaf round the end of your fork so 
as to make a small ball of it, and eat it with a little more 
elegance than your neighbor, who is trying his level best 
to get the leaf into his mouth edgeways. 

Plain French Dressing. — A plain French dressing is mada 
of salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar, and nothing else. Three 
tablespoonfuls of oil to one of vinegar, salt-spoon heaping 
full of salt, an even salt-spoonful of pepper mixed with a 
little cayenne. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 53 

Plain English Dressing. — Same as plain French dressing, 
with a teaspoonful of made English mustard added. 

Bacon Dresing. — Out half a pavnd of bacon-fat into slices, 
then into very small pieces, and fry them until the oil ex- 
tracted is a light- brown ; remove the pan from the fire 
and add the juice of a lemon, one wineglassf ul of strong vine- 
gar, a salt-spoonful of pepper, and pour it over the salad with 
the pieces of bacon. A very nice dressing when you cannot 
get oil, etc. 

Summer Mayonnaise. — Chop up the yolk and white of a 
hard-boiled egg very fine, and sprinkle it over a salad. Mix 
a plain French dressing in a cold soup-plate, and pour over 
the egg and salad, and mix all together. 

Sauce Vinaigrette. — Mix a plain French dressing, and add 
to it a quarter of an onion chopped fine, a teaspoonful of 
chopped parsley or pickle. 

Don't like the onion ? Then add a few Godillot capers. 

Mayonnaise Sauce. — Work the yolks of two raw eggs to a 
smooth paste, and add two salt-spoonfuls of Koyal Table Salt, 
half a salt-spoonful of cayenne, a salt-spoonful of dry mustard, 
and a teaspoonful of oil; mix these ingredients thoroughly 
and add the strained juice of half a lemon. Take the re- 
mainder of half a pint of Virgin olive-oil and add it gra- 
dually, a teaspoonful at a time, and every fifth teaspoonful 
add a few drops of lemon- juice until you have used two 
lemons and the half-pint of oil. 

There are almost as many ways of making a Mayonnaise 
sauce as there are of cooking eggs. 

Mayonnaise Sauce, No. 2.— Rub the yolks of three hard- 
boiled eggs with the yolk of one raw egg to a smooth paste; 
add a heaping teaspoonful of salt, two salt-spoonfuls of white 
pepper, and two salt-spoonfuls of made mustard; mix tho- 
roughly and work a gill of oil gradually into the mixture, al- 
ternated with a teaspoonful of tarragon vinegar until you 
have used three tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Should the sauce 
appear too thick add a wineglassful of cream gradually. 



54 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Lobster Salad. — Tear the meat of the lobster in* o shreds with 
two forks ; remove the eggs {if a hen lobster) from the fins ; 
scrape out all the green fat from the shell and set it aside. 
Prepare for making a Mayonnaise by working a tablespoonf ul 
of the fat into a smooth paste ; let this green fat, with the yolk 
of one raw egg and one hard-boiled egg,be the basis of your Ma- 
yonnaise ; in all other particulars follow instruction for Ma- 
yonnaise sauce. When complete mix the lobster meat with 
three tablespoonfuls of the sauce. Cover the bottom of a 
dish or compot with lettuce (the large leaves tear in two), 
put a layer of lobster upon it; next add a layer of celery cut 
into narrow-inch strips, and another layer of lobster ; ar- 
range it neatly on the dish ; sprinkle the eggs or the chop- 
ped coral on the lettuce round the edges ; pour the sauce 
over the meat, garnish with lobster-legs, and serve. 

Somebody sent to the Washington Republic's correspond- 
ent, " G. H. B.," while he was laid up in Providence hospital 
with the gout, a very fine lobster, and this is what he did 
with it : " Now, I'll tell you about that lobster. I had him 
laid away tenderly in the ice-chest, and directed him to ap- 
pear at dinner with some leaves of lettuce and a raw egg. 
The yolk of that egg I mingled, with slow, deliberate revolu- 
tions of a fork, with mustard, red pepper, salt, and oil. 
When the paste was thick enough to take up on the end of 
the fork like dough I thinned it — 'cut it' is technical — with 
vinegar, and there was my dressing. I planted a table facing 
the snow-storm, at which I mocked and jeered in a tempe- 
rature of seventy degrees Fahrenheit. Then did I disrobe 
the ' Cardinal of the Seas ' (you remember the Frenchman 
who applied that to lobsters, thinking they came from the 
ocean red ?) of his vestments, and by the aid of a long pickle- 
spoon placed all that was in him on the plate. His legs I 
chewed up. Then late him, and watched the many industri- 
ous, hard-working fathers of families trudging by in the snow, 
who had no lobster, and couldn't have dressed him if they 
had. Then I finished up on some sponge-cake and custard, 
ate two apples with a sprinkle of salt, lit my pipe, and in its 
smoke framed beautiful porcelain figures engraven with 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 55 

Chinese characters and Hindoo idols. That's what I did 
with that lobster. He was a prime one and very much in- 
terested the Sisters." 

Chicken Salad. — Cut up a cold boiled chicken into neat 
strips or pieces, and mix with it an equal quantity of celery. 
Cut the celery-stalks into inch pieces, and cut each piece 
into long strips ; mix them together with a few spoonfuls of 
Mayonnaise; arrange neatly upon a dish garnished with lettuce, 
parsley, or hard-boiled egg, pour the remainder of the sauce 
over the meat, and serve. 

Veal Salad. — Boil a nice lean piece of veal with a chicken 
or turkey, saving the water in which they were boiled to 
make a soup, and serving the fowl for dinner with egg or 
oyster sauce. When cold cut it up into neat strips, mix it 
with celery or lettuce, pour Mayonnaise over it, and serve. 

The custom of pickling the pieces, etc., of fowl before mix- 
ing them in a salad does not take well with Americans. 

Herring Salad. — Soak four Holland herrings in water or 
milk for three hours ; then cut them up into neat, square pieces 
and set them aside ; cut up into slices nearly three quarts of 
boiled potatoes while they are hot, and pour over them Rhine 
wine enough to moisten them ; cover close, and when cold add 
the herrings and the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs chopped 
fine; crush a dozen whole peppers in a napkin, add to the 
salad, and mix. If milt herrings are used pound the milt 
to a paste, moisten it with vinegar, and pour over the salad. 

If roe herring are used, separate the eggs neatly and 
sprinkle them over the salad, and serve. 

I know a number of my German friends who will say, 
" Ah! that is not a herring salad." Where are the apples, the 
capers, beets, pickles, etc. ? But the only answe I can make 
them is that the majority of our German brethren make an 
Italian or a Russian salad and call it a herring salad. 

Potato Salad. — Cut up three quarts of boiled potatoes, 
while hot, into neat pieces, and add to them a tablespoonful 
of chopped parsley, a tablespoonful of chopped onion, a tea- 



56 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

spoonful of pepper, and one of salt ; add a cupful of oil, 
and mix ; then add a cupful of warm stock, a wineglassfulof 
vinegar (from the mixed-pickle bottle), mix the ingredients 
together carefully, and do not break the potato anymore than 
is absolutely necessary ; set it in the ice-box, and when cold 
serve by placing a leaf of lettuce on a side-dish, and put two 
spoonfuls of the salad upon the lettuce. The onion and pars- 
ley may be omitted, and boiled root celery added, or a little 
stalk celery chopped fine. You cannot make a perfect pota- 
to salad with cold boiled potatoes. Most cook-books recom- 
mend them, but that soggy, peculiar taste cannot be removed 
or destroyed by all the condiments in the cruet-stand. A 
salad prepared while the potatoes are hot will look more ap- 
petizing and will keep three or four days, while cold boiled 
potatoes will turn a black, uninviting color, and turn sour 
the second day. 

Turnip Tops. — When turnips placed in the cellar begin to 
sprout they are usually thrown away, but the housekeeper 
of experience will tell you that a bushel of turnips will fur- 
nish her family with a salad all winter, and a very good one if 
properly prepared. 

Place the bushel of turnips in a dark, warm cellar to sprout, 
and when the sprouts are three or four inches long cut them 
off; pick the leaves from the stems, and pour hot water over 
them ; let them remain in the hot water a moment, then 
plunge them into cold water ; place the sprouts in the co- 
lander to drain oh* all the water, and send to table with a 
plain dressing or bacon dressing poured over them. 

Asparagus Salad. — Boil the asparagus, and take it from the 
hot water and plunge it into cold water to give it firmness ; 
drain off the water, and send to table with sauce Vinaigrette 
or plain French dressing. 

Hop Sprouts. — The hop-growers pull up all but two or three 
sprouts from a hill of hops, and throw them away ; the few 
that remain in the hill are supposed to do duty as pole-climb- 
ers. Gather a small basketful of the rejected sprouts ; take 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 57 

them home ; boil them in salted water a few minutes, then 
plunge them into cold water ; drain off all the water, and 
serve with a plain French dressing, bacon dressing, or sauce 
Vinaigrette. 

If you eat asparagus you will like hop sprouts. 

Cucumber Salad. — Peel and slice the cucumbers as thin as 
possible ; put the slices in salted water five minutes, then 
draw off the water ; cover them with vinegar, half a teaspoon- 
ful of pepper, and salt if necessary. 

Cucumber and Tomato Salad. — Peel and slice a five-inch 
cucumber into very thin slices; put them in a bowl with half 
a teaspoonful of salt and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar ; set 
it aside and mix a plain English dressing. 

Take one large or two small-sized tomatoes, scald them a 
moment, remove the skin and put them in cold water a few 
minutes to cool ; line the salad-bowl with lettuce, drain the 
cucumbers from the pickle and put them in the bowl ; wipe 
the tomatoes and cut them into slices ; put them on top of 
the cucumber, pour the dressing over it, and serve. 

Office Western Union Telegraph Company, ) 
Harrisburg, Penn., April 16, 1879. ) 

Mr. Murrey, Caterer Continental Hotel, Philadelphia: 

Send by express, to-morrow, one hundred Murrey salad 
sandwiches. 

Henry M. Hoyt, Governor. 

Murrey's Salad Sandwich.— Cut up four ounces of breast of 
boiled chicken and four ounces of tongue, place them in a 
mortar, aud pound them to a paste ; add two salt-spoonfuls 
of celery-salt, a pinch of cayenne, a teaspoonful of anchovy 
paste, and four tablespoonfuls of Mayonnaise ; put the mix- 
ture on a cold dish, and set it aside. 

Take a few neat leaves of lettuce, dip each leaf in a little 
tarragon vinegar, shake it, and piace it on a slice of bread ; 
spread a layer of the prepared meat over the lettuce, then 
another leaf of lettuce over the meat, and the other slice of 



58 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

bread, and your sandwich is made. Trim off the crust, cut 
each sandwich in two, and fold each piece neatly in con- 
fectionery (oiled) paper. 

Ham and veal make a nice salad sandwich. The meat may 
be spread on the bread and the lettuce in the centre, if pre- 
ferred. 

Muskmelon Salad. — Should you be so unfortunate as to 
receive an insipid, over-ripe melon, do not send it from the 
table, but scoop it out on your plate with a spoon, pour a 
French dressing over it, and you will thank me for the sug- 
gestion. 

Alligator-Pear Salad. — This tropical fruit, that tastes 
something like our chestnuts, is beginning to find favor 
among us, but care should be used in selecting the fruit. The 
green colored fruit is the best ; the black, over-ripe fruit is 
useless. Out the pear in two, remove the large seed, cut 
away the outer rind, then cut the fruit into strips and season 
with a salt-spoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls best Virgin 
olive-oil, a teaspoonful of tarragon vinegar — nothing else. 

Salt. — Of all the condiments now in use salt is the most 
essential. The health of every individual depends upon it, 
and it is as much required as food or drink; therefore the 
salt question is an important one to families. Do not buy 
salt so fine as to cake in the salt-cellar, for it is almost 
useless ; nor use a very coarse salt ; a happy medium is 
the thing. What is known to the trade as Eoyal Table Salt 
is the proper fineness and best adapted for hotels and family 
use. 

Mushrooms. — I have purposely avoided introducing mush- 
rooms into my receipts on account of the expense attached, 
but where the expense is only a secondary consideration they 
may be used indiscriminately. Of the French canned mush- 
rooms the A. Godillot's brand gives the best satisfaction, being 
put up and sealed at the source of supply, and, therefore, 
their natural flavors are preserved. Our field mushrooms are 
very nice when fresh, cooked in any form. To distinguish 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 59 

them from the poisonous fungi, "A Constant Reader," writ- 
ing to the London Times, says: "I venture to send you a 
simple test of the mushroom, which I have practised for many 
years, and for which I am indebted to an old herbalist. Be- 
fore peeling the mushroom pass a gold ring backwards and 
forwards on the skin of the mushroom; should the bruise 
thus caused turn yellow or orange color the mushroom is 
poisonous, but otherwise it is quite safe. I have tried re- 
peated baskets of mushrooms in this way, some turning yel- 
low and others retaining the usual color, though in all 
other respects to all appearance the same." 

Forney's Progress on mushrooms : 

He saw a fellow gathering mushrooms, and he knew they 
were the poisonous kind. 

" Take care," he said, "those mushrooms are poisonous." 

" Oh ! that makes no difference," replied the man. " I am 
not going to eat them ; I'm gathering them for market." 

The Mystery of making Loaf Bread — A Trustworthy 
Receipt. — " Loaf bread," once said an experienced house- 
keeper to us, " interferes with the salvation of more house- 
keepers than any other one thing in the world." This was 
probably an extravagant statement, yet to the country house- 
wife who cannot turn to a convenient bakery the duty of 
breadmaking is too often a heavy cross — a sort of hit-or-miss 
experiment. Heavy, sour bread is far more general than the 
opposite, and this is trying to both the digestions and to the 
tempers of the family who eat it. Yet there is no reason 
for this; there is a philosophy of breadmaking as of every- 
thing else, and certain causes accomplish certain results. 
Therefore we are glad to be able to give a receipt from a 
practical housekeeper whose bread never fails: To make two 
quarts of bread or rolls take four or five nice, large Irish 
potatoes, peel and cut them up, and put them to boil in just 
enough water to cover them. When done mash smooth in 
the same water, and when cool, not cold, add a half-teacup- 
ful of yeast — or, if you use compressed yeast, the sixth part of 
a cake dissolved in tepid water — a dessert-spoonful of sugar, a 



€0 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

little salt, a tablespoonful of lard, and a pint of flour. Mix 
together lightly. This should be very soft and quite sticky. 
Set by in a covered vessel in a warm place to rise. In two 
or three hours it will be risen, and should look almost like 
yeast, full of bubbles. Now work in the rest of your two 
quarts of flour, and, if necessary, add a little cold water. 
The dough should be rather soft and need not be kneaded 
more than half an hour. Set to rest in a moderately warm 
place for four hours or thereabouts. It can be baked now 
if wanted at once, but, if not, take a spoon and push the 
dough down from the top and sides of the vessel containing 
it, and let it rise again. The oftener the bread rises the 
lighter it will be — three times is, however, sufficient. After 
it rises the last time take it out of the vessel and knead it 
with your hands until it is smooth. If too soft add a little 
more flour. For rolls, roll out and cut as if for biscuit. If 
you prefer doubled rolls give each a touch with the rolling- 
pin to make it oblong, and then double it over. The baking- 
pan must be greased and the rolls must not touch each other. 
Set down to rise; this will take half or three-quarters of an 
hour. Then put in the oven and bake as you would biscuit. 
Unless the oven is hot the rolls will spread and the crust be 
hard. — Col. McClure's Philadetyhia Times. 

Wheat Bread. — Put seven pounds of flour into a bread- 
pan, hollow out the centre, and add a quart of lukewarm 
water, a teaspoonful of salt, and a wineglassful of yeast. Have 
ready more warm water, and add gradually as much as will 
make a smooth, soft dough. Knead it well; dust a little flour 
over it, cover it with a cloth, and set it in a warm place for 
four hours ; then knead it again for fifteen minutes and let it 
rise again. Divide it into loaves and bake in a quick oven. 

Corn Bread. — Sift three quarts of corn meal, add a table- 
spoonful of salt, and mix sufficient water with it to make a 
very thin batter. Cover it with a bread-cloth and set it to 
rise. When ready to bake stir it well, pour it into a baking- 
pan, and bake slowly. Use cold water in summer and hot 
water in winter. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 61 

Continental Hotel Corn Bread. — Sift together a pound and 
a half wheat flour, one pound Indian meal, two ounces Koyal 
Baking Powder, and a tablespoonf ul salt. Beat together three 
ounces of sugar, three ounces of butter, and four eggs; add 
the mixture to the flour, and make a stiff batter by adding 
warm milk if in winter, cold milk in summer. Bake in 
small square moulds. 

Continental Hotel Muffins. — Mix two and a half pounds 
flour, three ounces Royal Baking Powder, and tablespoonf ul 
salt. Beat up three ounces of sugar, three ounces butter, 
and four eggs together ; add to the flour, make a batter with 
milk, half fill the muffin-rings, and bake in a quick oven. 

Boston Brown Bread.— Sift together thoroughly half a pint 
of flour, one pint corn meal, half a pint rye flour, one tea- 
spoonful salt, one tablespoonful brown sugar, and two tea- 
spoonfuls baking powder. Peel, wash, and boil two mealy 
potatoes; rub them through the sieve, diluting with half a 
pint of water. When this is quite cold use it to make a 
batter and pour it into a well-greased mould having a cover. 
Place it in a saucepan of boiling water. Simmer one hour 
without the water getting into it ; take it out of the water, 
remove the cover, and finish cooking by baking about thirty 
minutes. 

Steamed Brown Bread. — One quart each of milk and Indian 
meal, one pint of rye meal, one cup of molasses, two tea- 
spoonfuls of soda. Add a little salt and steam four hours. 

M. G. H. 

Milk Biscuit. — Take one-fourth of a pound butter, one 
quart lukewarm milk, two wineglassfnls yeast, salt to taste, 
and as much flour as will form the dough. Stir flour into 
the milk to make a thick batter, and add the yeast. This 
should be done in the evening. Next morning melt the 
butter and pour it into the sponge; add flour enough to make 
a stiff dough; knead it well and set it aside to rise. When 
perfectly light roll it out an inch thick and cut the biscuits, 
set them in shallow baking-pans, and set them in a mode- 



62 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

rately warm place to rise. When they are light brush beaten 
egg over them and bake in a quick oven. 

Corn Cakes. — Scrape twelve ears of corn, use two eggs, one 
and one-half cups of milk, salt and pepper to taste, and flour 
enough to hold all together. Fry in hot fat. m. g. h. 

Fried Bread Cakes. — Add half a cupful of melted butter, 
three of " A " sugar, four eggs, teaspoonful of salt, and a 
little grated nutmeg to five cupfuls of dough. Knead these 
well together with flour, and set it before the fire to rise 
until very light. Knead the dough again after it rises, and 
cut it into diamond or crescent shaped cakes; let them rise, 
and fry them in boiling fat. 

Pies. — Pie, and the extent to which it is consumed in this 
country, have long been a subject upon which Europeans tra- 
velling here have exercised their descriptive and imaginative 
powers. It seems to be a cardinal belief on the other side 
that no meal is furnished here without a superabundance of 
pie; that, even at the best inns and restaurants in New 
York, Boston, and Philadelphia, pie is devoured at breakfast, 
luncheon, dinner, and supper ; that no American would sit 
down to a table where he could not see plenty of pie; that 
all the States are closely connected and bound together by a 
prejudice in favor of pie; that it was love of pie rather than 
force of patriotism which, in the civil war, preserved the 
Union. Sala is one of the latest Englishmen to descant on 
the omnipresence and national omnivorousness of pie. He 
devotes ample space to it in one of his recent letters to the 
London Telegraph ; admits that he has eaten it, and that it 
is so very toothsome that it is difficult to resist its tempta- 
tions. He has done what a great many of our own people 
never do. Hundreds of families in this and in other cities 
do not see a pie from beginning to end of the year. Thou- 
sands of natives have never tasted pie. In the large towns 
of the Middle States it is but seldom put on the table. 
New England, indeed, is the region to which pie is indige- 
nous, though even there it is confined mainly to the rural 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 63 

districts. It appears odd, however, that Englishmen should 
so animadvert on our pies, as if they had never tasted or 
heard of such things. They have any quantity of pies at 
home, but these are meat pies, commonly of pork and mut- 
ton, and as hostile to gastric conditions as bad pastry and 
poor baking can conveniently make them. They have, too, 
any number of fruit pies, giving them the name of tarts, not 
to be compared with our pies. The gooseberry tart, almost 
as much a British dish as plum-pudding, is eaten from 
Cornwall to Northumberland, and that its eaters survive it 
proves the strength and elasticity of the national stomach. 
It is usually as heavy as lead and a guarantee of indiges- 
tion. The French also have numberless pies under the dis- 
guise of tartes, but no better than, often not so good as, 
ours. In truth, the American pie is widely prevalent in the 
Old World, where, as a rule, it is inferior to the native 
article. . new york times. 

Puff Paste. — Good sweet, salt butter, which has been washed 
in cold water, squeezed between the hands to free it from 
the salt, and afterwards wrung in a cloth to take away all 
the moisture, is the best material that can be used. The 
consistency of the butter is of much importance. If it is too 
hard it will not easily mix with the flour, but if it is too 
soft the paste will be entirely spoilt in consequence of the 
butter breaking through the edges while it is being rolled. 
As the difficulty experienced is generally to get the butter 
sufficiently cool, it is a good plan to place "it upon ice before 
using it for the pastry. In hot weather the paste should be 
placed in a cool place a few minutes between each turn. If 
very flaky pastry is required, the paste may be brushed 
lightly over each time it is rolled with white of egg. Sift 
one pound of flour ; put it on the pastry-board. Make a 
hole in the centre ; add half a teaspoonsful salt and little 
less than half a pint of ice-water. The exact quantity of 
water cannot be given, owing to the difference in flour, but 
experience will soon enable you to determine when the paste 
is sufficiently stiff. Mix it in gradually with a knife, then 



64 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

work it lightly with the hands to form a smooth paste. 
Have ready three-quarters of a pound of butter. Flatten the 
paste till it is an inch thick ; lay the butter in the centre, 
and fold over the four sides of the paste so as to form a 
square and completely hide the butter. Leave this to cool a 
few minutes, then dredge the board and the paste with 
flour, and roll the paste out very thin, and be especially care- 
ful that the butter does not break through the flour. Fold 
over a third of the length from one end, and lay the other 
third upon it. This folding into three is called giving one 
turn. Let the paste rest for a few minutes, then give it two 
more turns ; rest again, and give it two more. This will be 
in all five turns, and these will generally be found sufficient. 
If, however, the pastry is to be used for patties, etc., six or 
seven turns will be required. Gather the paste together, 
and it is ready for use, and should be baked as soon as pos- 
sible ; and remember to dredge a little flour over it, the 
board, and rolling-pin every time it is rolled, to keep it from 
sticking. French cooks mix the yolks of tAvo eggs with 
flour and water in the first instance. If a very rich paste is 
required a pound of butter to a pound of flour may be used. 

CASSELL. 

Paste. — One pound of flour, half a pound of butter, half a 
pound of lard. With a little water make a dough of the 
flour and lard ; then roll it ; spread a portion of the butter 
over it ; fold and roll again ; add more butter, and so on un- 
til you have used the half-pound all up. 

You cannot make good paste out of poor flour. The 
« Perfection New Process Flour " will give you entire satis- 
faction. 

Apple-pie. — Make a good cruet and cover your plates with 
it. Pare, core, and cut up the apples in small pieces ; put 
them on to etew in just water enough to cover them ; quarter 
a lemon and stew with the apples. When soft mash the ap- 
ples, remove the seeds if any, sweeten to taste, and flavor 
with nutmeg or ground cinnamon. 

Sliced Apple Pie. — Make a good, light crust ; wet the edge 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 65 

of the pie-plate and lay a thin strip all round. Pare, core, 
and slice the apples ; lay them on the paste with a little sugar, 
the juice of half a lemon ; flavor with nutmeg. Lay a top 
crust over the fruit, and bake nearly three-quarters of an 
hour. 

Apple Meringue Pie. — Prepare the pie as in the foregoing 
receipt, omitting the upper crust, and while the pie is baking 
prepare a meringue by beating up the whites of three eggs 
with three ounces of powdered sugar to a stiff broth ; spread 
two-thirds of the mixture over the fire, and put the other third 
into a paper funnel or cornucopia, and by squeezing it de- 
corate the pie according to fancy ; dust sugar over it. Re- 
turn it to the oven to set the meringue. 

Apple-Custard Pie. — Beat up six eggs with a cupful of su- 
gar ; add them to three cupfuls of stewed apples (cold), and 
add gradually a quart of milk to the mixture ; season with 
nutmeg ; cover the pie-plate with a good crust, with the 
edge neatly arranged; fill the pie with the custard, and bake. 

Mince-meat for Pie. — Shred and chop very fine two pounds 
of beef-suet ; by dredging the suet occasionally with flour it 
chops more easily and does not clog ; boil slowly, but 
thoroughly, two pounds of lean round of beef and chop fine 
(mix all the ingredients as they are prepared) ; stone and cut 
fine two pounds of raisins ; wash and pick two pounds of cur- 
rants ; cut fine half a pound of citron ; chop two pounds of 
apples, weighing them after they have been peeled and cored; 
a tablespoonful of salt, a teaspoonf ul of ground cinnamon, a 
grated nutmeg, a saltspoonful of allspice, half as much 
cloves, half an ounce of essence of almonds, a pint of brandy, 
and a pint of cider. This may be kept in a cool place all 
winter. If too dry add more cider. 

Manufacturers are competing w r ith each other in the pre- 
paration of mince-meat to such an extent that it is no lon- 
ger economy to prepare your mince-meat at home. Most of 
our first-class hotels use the "Thanksgiving Brand,*' a genu- 



66 Valuable Cool :ing Receipts. 

ine New England preparation. It is put tip in five or ten 
pound buckets, and I consider it a great saving to families, 
both in time and materials, to secure their meat all ready 
prepared, when they know they can get a reliable article. 

When you are about to make mince-pies moisten the meat 
with cider, port, brandy, or water. 

Pumpkin Pie. — Cut the pumpkin into strips, and stew 
them in water enough to cover them nicely ; when done 
pour off the water and press the pumpkin through a sieve; 
add to the pulp two quarts of milk, and nine eggs to every 
quart of pulp; sweeten with sugar (beat the sugar and eggs 
together), and season liberally with ginger and nutmeg; 
prepare the pie-plates with a crust as for custard pies ; rill 
the plate with the mixture, and bake in a hot oven. 
Serve the pies when cold. After drawing off the water from 
the pumpkin cover the pot with a towel and let it stand half an 
hour on the back part of the range to dry out the moisture. 

Fruit Pies. — The under-paste for fruit pies may be made of 
flour and lard, but the top is generally made of good puff- 
paste ; it may cover the pie entirely or only in strips, accord- 
ing to fancy. Should the fruit require longer cooking 
than the paste, prepare it by stewing or simmering before 
filling the pies with it. 

Custard Pies. — Line a well-buttered pie-plate with a good 
paste ; arrange a thick pie rim round the edge of the plate; 
beat up four eggs with one cupful of sugar, and gradually add 
a pint and a half of milk; fill the pies while in the oven; 
grate a little nutmeg over them and bake about twenty 
minutes. 

Lemon Cream Pie. — Boil a pint and a half of milk, and add 
three tablespoonfuls corn-starch dissolved in a little cold milk. 
Eeturn the milk to the fire ; take the juice of two lemons, 
four eggs, one cupful sugar, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. 
Beat these ingredients together, and add to the milk ; flavor 
with a teaspoonful of extract of lemon and grated nutmeg ; 
pour the mixture into the pies (prepared as for custard pies) 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 67 

and bake. When done remove from the oven and set it 
aside. Whip up the whites of four eggs to a froth, and gra- 
dually add a cupful of powdered sugar ; spread two-thirds of 
the mixture on the pie, and put the other one-third into a 
cornucopia, and by squeezing it decorate the pie according 
to fancy. Return it to the oven a few minutes to set the 



Lemon Cream Pie, No. 2. — One tablespoonf ul of corn-starch 
dissolved in cold water, one cupful of boiling hot water, one 
tablespoonf ul of butter, one egg, juice and rind of one lemon. 
Sweeten to taste, and set aside to get cold. Fill crust with 
this cream, and bake in a hot oven. M. G. h. 

Orange Pie. — Work a teacupful of powdered sugar and a 
tablespoonf ul of butter to a cream. Mix a tablespoonf ul of 
corn-starch with a little cold water, and add a teacupful of 
boiling water; let it cook long enough to thicken, stirring 
constantly ; then pour the mixture on to the butter and sugar. 
Grate the peel from half an orange, and chop the other half 
fine — first removing all the inner white skin. Add this to 
the former ingredients, also a beaten egg_ and the juice of an 
orange. Peel another orange, and slice it in little thin bits, 
being careful to remove all the seeds and the tough white 
skin. Line a pie-plate with nice paste and bake it until just 
done ; then fill with the custard and orange slices, and bake 
long enough to cook the egg. A meringue made with the 
whites of two eggs, a pinch of salt, and two tablespoonf uls 
of powdered sugar, beaten to a stiff froth, will be an im- 
provement. Spread it over the pie ; sift powdered sugar on 
the top, and set it .'.gain in the oven until slightly colored. 

English Plum Pudding.— Take six ounces of finely grated 
bread, and mix with them a pound of flour, a pound of beef 
suet floured and chopped tine, a teaspoonf ul salt, half a pound 
of granulated sugar, three-fourths of a pound of raisins 
stoned and chopped, three-fourths of a pound of washed 
currants, two ounces each of candied lemon and orange 



68 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

peel, two ounces of citron shredded, a quarter of a pound 
apple chopped fine, half an ounce of mixed spice, con- 
sisting of ground cloves, cinnamon, and grated nutmeg, 
and half a teaspoonful of fresh grated lemon-peel. Mix 
these ingredients thoroughly, and work the mixture into a 
stiff batter by adding to it five eggs beaten up with half a 
pint of rich milk and a gill of brandy; turn the mixture 
into a floured towel; shape it nicely; tie it up not too tight- 
ly, but leave room enough for it to swell. Put it into a sauce- 
pan of boiling water, and keep it boiling for five hours unin- 
terruptedly. Have a kettle of boiling water ready to add to 
your saucepan as fast as the water evaporates. When done 
sift powdered sugar over it; pour a little brandy or Jamaica 
rum round it; set a match to the liquor, and send it to the 
table with a hard or brandy sauce. 

Plum-Pudding Sauce. — Four ounces sugar and two ounces 
butter, well creamed together; then beat an egg well into it, 
with two ounces of brandy. 

New England Plum Pudding.— Two pounds bread, four 
quarts milk, three pounds raisins, two grated nutmegs, three 
teaspoonfuls each of cinnamon and allspice, eight eggs, 
one cup sugar, and one cup molasses. Bake three hours. 

M. G. H. 

Plain Plum Pudding. — Flour six ounces of suet, and chop 
it fine; add a quarter of a pound of currants, the same 
quantity of raisins, half a teaspoonful salt, and a teaspoon- 
ful Koyal Baking Powder; sift a pound of flour into the mix- 
ture; mix the dry ingredients thoroughly, and stir into them 
nearly a pint of milk with three tablespoonfuls of molasses; 
add a little mixed spice; shape the pudding nicely; tie it up 
in a floured towel, allowing room for it to swell, and boil 
three hours. 

Boiled Pudding. — Take a cupful of chopped suet, a cupful 
of grated bread, and a cupful of washed currants; mix with 
two tablespoonfuls sugar, a teaspoonful of grated lemon- 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 69 

peel, a salt-spoonful salt, and grated nutmeg; beat up two 
eggs with half a cupful of milk, and work the mixture to a 
light paste; wring some small cloths out of boiliug water, 
flour them, and tie in each a small portion of the mixture; 
plunge them into boiling water, let them boil quickly half 
an hour, turn them out on a hot dish, dash sugar over them, 
and serve with a sauce made of sweetened melted butter, 
with a teaspoonful of grated lemon-peel, nutmeg to taste ; a 
few spoonfuls of brandy will improve it. 

Batter Pudding. — Beat the yolks and whites of four eggs 
separately, and mix them with six or eight ounces of flour 
and a salt-spoonful of salt. Make the batter of the proper 
consistency by adding a little more than a pint of milk; mix 
carefully; butter a baking-tin, pour the mixture into it, and 
bake three-quarters of an hour. Serve with vanilla sauce. 

Vanilla Sauce. — Put half a pint of milk in a small sauce- 
pan over the fire; when scalding hot add the yolks of three 
eggs, and stir until it is as thick as boiled custard; remove 
the saucepan from the fire, and when cool add a tablespoon - 
ful of Thurber's double extract of vanilla and the beaten 
whites of two eggs. 

Chocolate Pudding. — One quart of milk boiled with one 
ounce of grated chocolate; sweeten to taste, and flavor with 
vanilla. Boil thoroughly, and stand aside to cool fifteen 
minutes ; then stir in the yolks of six eggs, well beaten ; 
bake in a pudding-dish until it stiffens like custard. Beat 
the whites of six eggs, with six tablespoonfuls of powdered 
sugar, to a stiff froth, and spread over top of pudding; put 
in oven and brown quickly. m. g. h. 

Crullers. — Half a pint of buttermilk, one cupful of butter, 
two cupfuls sugar, and three eggs; beat up the eggs and add 
the sugar and milk. Dissolve half a teaspoonful of saleratus 
in a liitle hot water; add to the mixture, with a teaspoonful 
salt, half a nutmeg grated, and half a teaspoonful of fresh 
ground cinnamon. Work in as much sifted flour as will 
make a smooth dough ; mix thoroughly; dredge the board, 



70 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

rolling-pin, and dough with flour; roll it out and cut it in 
rings or fingers, and fry in hot fat. 

I have recommended buttermilk in the above receipt, 
knowing its excellent qualities ; but the majority of house- 
keepers consider it utterly useless. The following from the 
British Mail is appropriate here: "As the butter which is 
taken from the milk is only the carbonaceous or heat-pro- 
ducing element, there are still left in it all the nourishing 
properties which make it so valuable as food. As a drink 
for men at work in the hot sun buttermilk is far prefer- 
able to cider, metheglin, switchel, or any preparation of beer 
whatever, as it is not only cooling and refreshing, but also 
strength-giving. Of course there are plenty of people, who 
are constantly dosing themselves with blood-searchers, liver- 
purifiers, and stomach-invigorators, who would laugh at the 
mention of buttermilk as a medicine, and yet if they could 
be once persuaded to try drinking a glass of that fresh bever- 
age every day they would soon find a corrective of their poor 
appetites and ' clogged-up' livers. In a little book of 
' Plain Directions for the Care of the Sick,' written by an 
intelligent physician of Philadelphia, who has under his 
medical supervision several charitable institutions, we find 
buttermilk mentioned as being very useful, especially in 
fevers, as an article of diet for the sick." 

Baking Powder. — I have endeavored to recommend to my 
many readers a few articles used in cooking that my long 
experience as a caterer has taught me are the best. A good 
baking powder is a very important article to have in every 
household, but it is difficult to get a powder without the 
presence of alum. 

The Brooklyn Board of Health, on motion of President 
Crane, the Sanitary Superintendent, was directed to procure 
samples of the various kinds of baking powders sold in 
Brooklyn, have them analyzed, and make a report thereon 
to the Board. Without going in detail into the constitution 
of baking powders, it will only be necessary to say that they 
are made with bicarbonate of soda, or carbonate of ammonia, 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 71 

and cream of tartar, chemically known as the bitartrate of 
potassa. But the lack of skill, resulting in lumps of soda in 
the product, led manufacturers to ascertain the proper pro- 
portion of these salts and to mix them, selling the compound 
as a baking powder. Some of the manufacturers, on account 
of the cheapness of alum, have introduced it as an ingredient 
into baking powder, and the report of the Brooklyn Board 
concludes as follows: "From a careful examination we are 
satisfied that the weight of evidence is against the use of alum 
in baking powders, and that the risks incurred in its use are 
too great to be incurred for the sake of cheapness alone. 
The mucous membrane of the stomach and the intestinal 
canal is a delicate structure, and materials which would pro- 
duce no effect on the outside skin might irritate and inflame 
these organs." 

Dr. Mott, the Government Chemist, in his review of the 
subject, makes special mention of having analyzed the Royal 
Baking Powder and found it composed of pure and wholesome 
materials. He also advises the public to avoid purchasing 
baking powders as sold loose or in bulk, as he has found by 
analyses of many samples that the worst adulterations are 
practised in this form. And I may cheerfully add that our 
first-class hotels use only the best of everything, not only in 
baking powders but in every article that enters their store- 
rooms, and that Royal Baking Powder is the only baking 
powder they allow used in then* bakeries, it being free from 
alum and other unwholesome ingredients. 

Roly-Poly Pudding. — One quart of flour, one-half pound 
of suet chopped fine ; rub in a little salt with flour, wet with 
water, and then roll it out and spread any kind of fruit over 
it. Roll up, put in cloth, and boil one hour. M. G. h. 

Roly-Poly Lemcn Pudding.— Take the pulp from three 
lemons ; remove the pith and add to it an equal weight of 
sugar ; boil tw T enty minutes ; then set the mixture to cool. 
Chop up seven ounces of suet, and mix it with one pound 
of flour, a salt-spoonful of salt, and water enough to make a 
paste ; roll it out nearly an inch in thickness ; spread the 



72 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

lemon mixture upon it, and roll it into a long pudding; 
pinch the ends together, tie it in a floured cloth, put it in- 
to boiling water, and boil constantly for two hours. Serve 
with wine-sauce. 

Marlborough Pudding. — Grate apples enough to make eight 
ounces ; add to this eight ounces of fine white sugar which 
has been well rubbed on the rind of a large lemon, six well- 
beaten eggs, three tablesj)oonfuls of cream, the strained juice 
of thiee lemons, eight ounces of butter; add quantity at 
pleasure of orange-flower water, and the grated peel of an 
orange and a lemon ; line the pie-dish with rich puff-paste, 
put in the mixture, and let it bake in a quick oven. 

Macaroni Pudding. — Butter a pie-dish, and cover the bot- 
tom with two and one-half ounces uncooked macaroni ; pour 
over it one quart of cold milk, add two tablespoonfuls of su- 
gar, stir in two well-beaten eggs, and flavor with one tea- 
spoonful of vanilla (double extract) or any flavoring desired. 
Put bits of butter over top, dust a little grated nutmeg over 
top, and bake slowly two hours and a half. 

Steamed Arrowroot Pudding. — Mix two tablespoonfuls of 
Beatty's Bermuda arrowroot with one cupful of milk ; flavor 
one pint and a half of milk with any desired flavoring, put 
it on the fire, and when it boils pour it upon the arrow- 
root ; stir well, and when it is cool add three well-beaten 
eggs, one tablespoonful each of sugar and brandy; put it into 
a well-buttered mould, cover, and steam it one hour and a 
half; then turn it out on a dish, and arrange some preserves 
or jam neatly around it, and serve. 

Almond Pudding. — Blanch and pound, with a little water, 
three ounces of sweet and four ounces of bitter almonds; add 
one pint of milk, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, a little gra- 
ted nutmeg, one tablespoonful of flour mixed smoothly in a 
little cold milk, one tablespoonful of grated bread, two eggs 
well beaten, and the whites of two eggs whisked to a froth ; 
pour the mixture into a buttered mould, cover, and boil quick- 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 73 

ly three-quarters of an hour; let it stand a few minutes be- 
fore turning out of mould. Serve with vanilla sauce. 

Bachelor's Pudding. — Beat up three eggs, flavor with es- 
sence of lemon and grated nutmeg, and add them to four 
ounces each of finely-minced apples, currants, grated bread- 
crumbs, and two ounces of sugar ; mix thoroughly and boil 
in a buttered mould nearly three hours. Serve with following 
sauce. 

Wine Sauce. — Boil the thin rind of half a lemon in one 
wineglassful of water till the flavor is extracted ; then take 
it out and thicken the sauce by stirring into it one salt- 
spoonful of rice, flour, or arrowroot which has been mixed 
in water or milk, a walnut of butter ; boil a moment, then 
add half a tumblerful of good wine ; let the sauce get quite 
hot without boiling, sweeten a little, and serve with the pud- 
ding. 

Bird's-Nest Pudding. — Make the foundation of nest of blanc- 
mange or corn-stare l) ; grate the rinds of three lemons, and 
arrange around the blanc-mange to represent straw ; extract 
the contents of four eggs through a small hole and fill the 
egg-shells with hot blanc-mange or corn-starch ; when cold 
break off the shells and lay the moulded eggs in nest. Serve 
with jam or preserves. 

Harlan's Pudding. — Take three ounces each of butter, 
sugar, and flour; whisk two eggs thoroughly, and gradually 
mix with them the loaf-sugar, which must be rubbed well on 
the rind of a lemon before it is pounded ; then add the 
flour and the butter partially melted, a salt-spoonful of salt, 
and a little grated nutmeg. Butter insides of several cups ; 
put a little jam at the bottom of each, and fill them nearly 
full with the mixture; bake half an hour ; turn them out 
and serve with wine sauce. 

Cocoanut Pudding. — Beat two eggs with one cupful of new 
milk ; add one-quarter of a pound of grated cocoanut ; mix 
with it three tablespoonfuls each of grated bread and pow- 



74 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

dered sugar, two ounces of melted butter, five ounces of rai- 
sins, and one teaspoonf ul of grated lemon-peel ; beat the 
whole well together ; pour the mixture into a buttered dish, 
and bake in a slow oven ; then turn it out, dust sugar over 
it, and serve. This pudding may be either boiled or baked. 

Citron Pudding. — Sift two tablespoonfuls of flour and 
mix with the beaten yolks of six. eggs ; add gradually one 
pint of sweet cream, a quarter of a pound of citron cut in 
small strips, and two tablespoonfuls of sugar; mix thoroughly, 
pour the batter into buttered tins, and bake twenty -five 
minutes. Serve with wine or vanilla sauce. 

Eve's Pudding. — Beat six ounces of butter to a cream ; add 
six ounces of sifted flour and six of sugar ; separate the 
yolks from the whites of four eggs ; beat them till they are 
light, then add the beaten yolks and afterwards the whites to 
the batter; mix, and add half a dozen pounded almonds and 
the grated rind of one lemon. Fill small tins about half full ; 
set them before the fire for a few minutes, and when they 
have risen place them in the oven and bake for half an 
hour. Serve with a sweet fruit sauce. 

Sliced-Apple Pudding. — Mix two tablespoonfuls of arrow- 
root with one pint of cream ; add two tablespoonfuls of 
sugar ; put in stew-pan and place over fire until it boils. 
Slice thinly apples enough to fill a large-sized dish, laying them 
in a dish with alternate layers of apples and sugar and small 
walnuts of butter; pour on a tumblerful of jam as next layer, 
and over all pour mixture of arrowroot. Bake in moderate 
oven twenty-five minutes. 

Astor-House Pudding. — Mix one tablespoonful of flour with 
two of milk; pour over it one cupful of boiling milk flavored 
with one teaspoonful extract of vanilla; add one tablespoonful 
of sugar, a walnut of butter, and the yolk of an egg, beaten. 
Line the edge of pudding-dish with a rich puff-paste, and 
fill the dish two-thirds full with slices of sponge-cake over 
which a good jam has been spread ; pour the custard over 
them and bake in a moderate oven; when done take out. Beat 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 75 

up the whites of two eggs with nearly one cupful of powdered 
sugar ; spread the meringue over the pudding, and sprinkle 
a little sugar over it ; return it to the oven a few minutes until 
the meringue is fawn-colored, and serve in dish with clean, 
white napkin neatly bound around the sides. 

A good wine-sauce may be served with it if desired. 

Manhattan Pudding. — Dissolve a walnut of saleratus in one 
tablespoont'ul of hot water; mix one cupful of milk, three 
well-beaten eggs, two tablespoonf uls of flour (mixed with cold 
milk), one pinch of salt, and four ounces of chopped citron ; 
add saleratus, and mix all thoroughly ; pour the mixture in- 
to a buttered mould, tie mould in a floured cloth, boil one 
hour and a half, turn out, and serve with a fruit-sauce. 

Manioca Pudding. — Three tablespoonf uls of manioca, one 
quart of milk, a little salt, one tablespoonful of butter, and 
two well-beaten eggs ; sugar, spice, or flavoring to the taste. 
Mix manioca in half the milk cold, and, with the butter, stir 
on the fire until it thickens or boils ; pour it quickly into a 
dish, stir in the sugar and the remaining milk, and when 
quite cool add the eggs, spice, and wine or other flavoring. 
This pudding may be varied by omitting the eggs and sub- 
stituting currants, chopped raisins or candied lemon, orange 
or citron sliced. Bake half an hour in a moderate oven. 



CAKES. 

English Christinas Cake.— Sift five pounds of flour ; mix 
with it one tablespoonful of salt, one pound and a half of 
butter, and half a pint of fresh brewer's yeast or five tea- 
spoonfuls of baking powder ; if yeast is used allow dough to 
rise before adding other ingredients ; mix in three pounds 
of washed currants, one pound and a half of "A" sugar, a 
whole nutmeg grated, one quarter of a pound of chopped 
candied lemon-peel, one wineglassful of brandy, and four 



76 Valuable CooJdng Receipts. 

well-beaten eggs ; butter the tins and line them with but- 
tered paper ; bake in a moderate oven for two hours. The 
quantity of brandy recommended will serve to keep these 
cakes fresh for an indefinite time. 

Apple Snow. — Eeduce half a dozen apples to a pulp; press 
them through a sieve ; add half a cupful powdered sugar 
and a teaspoonful of extract of lemon ; take the whites 
of six eggs, whip them for several minutes, and sprinkle two 
tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar over them ; beat the apple 
pulp to a froth, and add the beaten egg ; whip the mixture 
until it looks like stiff snow ; then pile it high in rough por- 
tions on a glass dish, garnish with small spoonfuls of currant- 
jelly, and stick a sprig of green on top. 

Almond Cake. — Blanch and pound in a mortar thoroughly 
eight ounces of sweet and one of bitter almonds; add a few 
drops of rosevvater or white of egg every few minutes to 
prevent oiling ; add six tablespoonfuls of sifted sugar and 
eight beaten eggs ; sift in six tablespoonfuls of flour and work 
it thoroughly with the mixture, gradually add a quarter 
of a pound of creamed butter ; beat the mixture constantly 
while preparing the cake, or it will be heavy ; pour the mix- 
ture into a buttered tin (place a buttered paper between the 
tin and the cake), allowing room for it to rise, and bake in a 
quick oven. Should the oven prove too hot for it, and the 
cake be in danger of burning, cover it with paper for a few 
minutes. 

Almond Sponge Cake. — Take half a pound of loaf-sugar, 
rub the rind of lemon on a few of the lumps, and crush the 
whole to a powder ; separate the whites from the yolks of 
five eggs, beat the yolks, and add the sugar gradually; 
then beat the whites to a stiff froth; add it to the dish, and 
sift in flour enough to make a batter ; add a tablespoonful of 
essence of almonds; butter and paper a tin, pour in the mix- 
ture until the tin is two-thirds full, and bake one hour in a 
moderate oven. The bottom of the tin may be studded with 
small pieces of almonds. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 77 

Zephyr Cakes. — Excellent tea-cakes. Wash the salt out of 
nearly a quarter of a pound of butter; add to it a quarter of 
a pound of powdered sugar and three well-beaten eggs, a 
teaspoonf ul of rosewater, and sifted flour enough to make a 
thin batter; stir it with a wooden spoon till the batter is 
perfectly smooth and so light that it will break when it falls 
against the sides of the mixing-bowl ; fill well-buttered 
muffin-moulds (small) nearly half full with the mixture, and 
bake in a quick oven ; serve hot with newly-made butter. 

Columbia Cake, — Beat three-quarters of a pound of butter 
to a cream; add gradually a pound of sugar, four well-beaten 
eggs, a cupful of milk, half a grated nutmeg, a salt spoonful 
cinnamon, a wineglassful of brandy, nearly two pounds of 
flour, and half a pound of washed currants ; beat these in- 
gredients together twenty minutes. Dissolve a teaspoonf ul 
of saleratus in a few spoonfuls of hot water, and stir it into 
the mixture ; butter the pan and line it with buttered paper, 
pour in the cake, and bake in a moderate oven. 

Knickerbocker Cakes. — Beat half a pound of fresh butter 
to a cream; add half a pound of powdered sugar, three-quar- 
ters of a pound of sifted flour, a tablespoonful of orange- 
flower water and one of brandy, and four ounces of washed 
currants ; add five well-beaten eggs, and beat the mixture 
until very light. Line some shallow cake-tins with buttered 
paper, pour in the mixture until they are half-full, and bake 
in a quick oven. 

Cocoanut Cake. — One and a half cups of sugar, half a cup 
each of butter and milk, one cup of cocoanut grated fine, 
two cups flour, three teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Bake 
in pans with dry cocoanut sprinkled over the top (three 
cakes). M. G. h. 

Olive Gingerbread. — Five and one-half cups of flour, two 
cups of molasses, one cup of sour cream, half a cup of but- 
ter, and two teaspoonf uls each of soda and ginger. M. G. H. 

Chocolate Cake. — Outside: Half a cup of butter, two cups 



78 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

of sugar, one cup of cold water, three cups of flour, four 
eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, and three teaspoon- 
fuls of baking powder. Inside ; Five tablepoonfuls of grated 
chocolate with enough cream or milk to wet it, one cupful of 
brown sugar, and one egg well beaten. Let it come to a boil, 
and then flavor with vanilla. Cake is made in layers like 
jelly cake. m. g. h. 

Chocolate Macaroons. — Put three ounces of plain choco- 
late in a pan, and melt, on a slow fire ; then work it to a 
thick paste with one pound of powdered sugar and the 
whites of three eggs ; roll the mixture down to the thick- 
ness of about one-quarter of an inch ; cut it in small, round 
pieces with a paste-cutter, either plain or scalloped; butter a 
pan slightly, and dust it with flour and sugar in equal quan- 
tities; place in it the pieces of paste or mixture, and bake in 
a hot but not quick oven. 

Whortleberry Cake. — One quart of flour, one cupful of 
sugar, one pint of berries, a little salt, and three teaspoon- 
fuls of baking powder. Mix stiff with milk like biscuit. 

M. G. H. 

"Whortleberry Cake, No. 2. — One cupful of sugar, two eggs, 
one and a half cupfuls of milk with half a teaspoonful of 
soda dissolved in it; butter size of an egg, one quart of ber- 
ries, one teaspoonful of cream-tartar, and flour enough to make 
a stiff batter. Bake in muffin-rings or tins. 

Cocoanut Pound Cake. — Beat half a pound of butter to a 
cream ; add gradually a pound of sifted flour, one pound 
of powdered sugar, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a 
pinch of salt, a teaspoonful of grated lemon -peel, quarter of 
a pound of prepared cocoanut, four well-beaten eggs, and a 
cupful of milk ; mix thoroughly; butter the tins, and line 
them with buttered paper ; pour the mixture in to the depth 
of an inch and a half, and bake in a good oven. When 
baked take out, spread icing over them, and return the cake 
to the oven a moment to dry the icing. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 79 

Icing. — One cupful white sugar, enough water to dissolve 
it; set on the stove and let it hoil until it will " hair "; beat 
the white of one egg to a stiff froth, pour the heated sugar 
on the egg. and stir briskly until cool enough to stay on the 
cake. The icing should not be applied until the cake is 
nearly or quite cold. This will frost the tops of two com- 
mon-sized cakes. 

Cream Cake. — Sift half a pound of flour into three ounces 
of creamed butter; add an even teaspoonf ul of baking powder, 
two tablespoonfuls powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, half a 
teaspoonf ul of grated lemon-peel, a cupful of cream that has 
turned a little, and beaten egg. Mix the batter, pour it 
into a buttered and papered tin, and bake in a moderate oven. 

Windsor Cake. — Beat the yolks and whites of six eggs sepa- 
rately. Have ready the crumbs of three Vienna rolls soaked 
in milk, and squeeze dry ; mix the crumbs with four ounces 
of melted butter, add the beaten yolks and two ounces 
crushed sugar, with a teaspoonf ul of grated lemon-peel; 
work the mixture, and add gradually two ounces each of 
raisins, almond paste, and candied orange-peel. Next add 
the frothed whites of eggs ; butter and paper a shallow tin, 
and bake in a moderate oven. When done sprinkle powder- 
ed sugar over it. If preferred, chopped almonds may be 
sprinkled over the bottom of the cake-tin before adding the 
cake. 

Ginger Cup Cake. — Mix two cupfuls of powdered sugar 
with two cupfuls of warmed butter; add three well-beaten 
eggs, a cupful of molasses, four heaping cupfuls of flour, a 
tablespoonful of fresh ground ginger, and a tablespoonful of 
dissolved saleratus ; mix thoroughly, and pour into buttered 
moulds or patty pans. Bake in moderate oven. 

Macaroons. — Blanch and pound six ounces of sweet al- 
monds; add one pound of powdered sugar, the beaten whites 
of six eggs, two ounces of rice flour, and one tablespoonful 
of brandy ; mix all well together, and drop the mixture in 
small quantities through a cornucopia on a sheet of confec- 



80 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

tionery paper, leaving a small distance between each, and 
bake in a moderate oven. It is best to bake one little cake 
at first, and if it is at all heavy add a little more beaien 
white of egg. A strip of blanched almond in the middle of 
each will be an improvement. They should be baked a fawn 
color. 

Neapolitan Cake. — Blanch and pound to a smooth paste 
six ounces of sweet and one ounce of bitter almonds; add a 
few drops of orange-flower water while pounding to pre- 
vent oiling-; add a pinch of salt, the grated rind of one 
lemon, four ounces of butter from which the salt has been 
extracted, half a pound of crushed loaf-sugar, ten ounces of 
flour; mix thoroughly, and add the well-beaten yolks of six 
eggs after the eggs have cooled a little. Roll the paste out 
to the thickness of about one-quarter of an inch, and stump 
out into small forms with a cake-cutter ; lay them upon a 
floured tin, and bake in a good oven. When they are done 
take them out, and when cold cover the tops with a little 
icing. Return them to the oven one moment to dry the 
icing. 

Marbled Cake. — One cupful of butter, two of sugar, three 
of flour, four well-beaten eggs, and one cupful of milk; 
two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; dissolve a large spoon- 
ful of chocolate with a little cream, and mix with a cupful 
of the batter ; cover the bottom of your pan with the batter, 
and drop upon it in two or three places a spoonful of the 
chocolate, forming rings, then another layer of the batter, 
and so on until all is used. Bake in a moderate oven. 

Pound Cake without Soda. — One pound powdered sugar, 
half pound butter, eight eggs, whites and yolks beaten sepa- 
rately and well ; ten ounces flour, one nutmeg ; bake one 
hour or longer. Never fails, and will keep one week. 

Lady Fingers, No. 1. — Beat the whites and yolks of four eggs 
separately ; mix with the yolks three ounces of flour and 
three of powdered sugar ; add the beaten whites, and after- 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 81 

wards a gill of rose-water ; beat all together a few minutes ; 
put the mixture in a paper funnel, and squeeze it out into 
the shape of fingers on paper which has had a little powdered 
sugar dusted over it ; dust a little sugar over the fingers ; 
let them stand five minutes, then bake to a fawn-color in a 
moderate oven ; fasten together after they have been baked 
with a little white of egg. Keep them in close-covered tin 
till wanted. 

Lady Fingers, No. 2. — Rub half a pound of butter into a 
pound of flour ; add half a pound of sugar ; grate in the 
rinds of two lemons, and squeeze in the juice of one ; then 
add three eggs ; make into a roll the size of the middle 
finger ; it will spread in the oven to a thin cake ; dip in 
chocolate icing. 

Crescents. — Mix three ounces of rice-flour with three 
ounces of powdered sugar ; add three well-beaten eggs ; 
mix all thoroughly, then spread the mixture thinly on paper 
and bake for twenty minutes. Take it out, and stamp into 
the shape of crescents ; cover each crescent with icing, and 
return them to the oven for a minute or two to dry ; add to 
a portion of the icing a little cochineal, to make some of the 
cakes pink-colored. 

Maids of Honor. — One cup each of sour and sweet milk, 
one small cup of white pounded sugar-candy, one tablespoon- 
ful of melted butter, the yolks of four eggs, and the juice and 
rind of one lemon. Put both kinds of milk together in a 
vessel, which is set in another, and let it become sufficiently 
heated to set the curd ; then strain off the milk, rub the 
curd through a strainer, add butter to the curd, also sugar- 
candy, well-beaten eggs, and lemon. Line the little pans 
with the richest of paste, and fill with the mixture ; bake 
until firm in the centre — from ten to fifteen minutes. 

Charlotte Russe. — Take one-fifth of a package of gelatine 
and half a cupful cold milk ; place in a farina boiler, and 
stir gently over the fire until the gelatine is dissolved ; pour 
into a dish, and place in a cool room ; take one pint of rich 



82 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

cream and whisk it with a tin egg-beater until it is thick ; 
flavor the cream with either vanilla or wine, and sweeten to 
taste ; when the gelatine is cool stiain carefully into the 
prepared cream ; line a mould with ladyfingers ; then pour 
the cream in carefully until it is filled ; cover with lady- 
fingers. 

Manioca Cream. — Three tahlespoonfuls of manioca, one 
pint of milk, three eggs, vanilla and sugar to taste ; soak 
the manioca in water till soft ; boil the milk ; while 
boiling stir in the manioca and the yolks of the eggs, beaten 
with the sugar ; when cooked sufficiently, pour into a dish 
to cool ; when cold, add the vanilla ; beat the whites of the 
eggs till stiff, sweeten and flavor them, and stir part into 
the pudding, putting the rest on top. 

Blanc-Mange. — Blanch ten bitter almonds with two ounces 
of sweet almonds, and pound them to a paste ; add by de- 
grees a third of a pint of cold water ; let it stand till set- 
tled, and strain off the almond milk. Put into a pint of 
milk five ounces of loaf-sugar, three inches of stick vanilla, 
and pour it into an enamelled saucepan ; boil slowly till the 
sugar is dissolved, then stir in an ounce of well-soaked isin- 
glass ; strain into a basin ; add the milk of almonds with a 
gill of cream ; remove the sticks of vanilla, and when cold 
pour the mixture into individual moulds and place in ice- 
box till wanted. 

Meringues. — Take one pound of powdered sugar, and add 
it to the beaten whites of eight eggs (slowly), until it forms 
a stiff froth ; fill a tablespoon with the paste, and smooth it 
with another spoon to the desired shape ; sift a little sugar 
over a sheet of paper, drop the meringues about two inches 
apart; dust a little sugar over them, and bake in a quick 
oven with door left open, so they can be watched constantly ; 
when fawn-colored, take them out ; remove them from the 
paper with a thin knife ; scrape out of each a little of the 
soft part. They may be neatly arranged around a dish of 
whipped cream, or filled with ice-cream. If whipped cream 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 83 

is used, they would be improved by the addition of a little 
bright jelly inside each meringue. 

Macaroon Basket. — This is a pretty and unconventional 
way of serving up macaroons with whipped cream, etc. 
Make a cement of sugar boiled to crackling, into which dip 
the edges of macaroons. Line a two-quart (deep) cake- 
pan with them, bottom and sides, taking care that the edges 
of macaroons touch each other firmly ; also have a care not 
to pack them so tightly in the pan as to prevent easy re- 
moval. Set aside to dry, and when wanted lill with the de- 
sired cream, and serve on a glass dish. 

Italian Cream. — Put one ounce of soaked isinglass, six 
ounces of loaf-sugar, half a stick of vanilla, and one pint of 
milk into a saucepan ; boil slowly, and stir all the time 
until the isinglass is dissolved ; strain the mixture, and 
when a little cool mix it with a pint of thick cream. Beat 
thoroughly until it thickens. Pour into a large or individual 
moulds, and put in ice-box until wanted. 

Whipped Coffee Cream. — Sweeten one pint of rich cream 
rather liberally; roast two ounces of coffee beans; when they 
are lightly browned throw them into the cream at once and 
let the dish stand one hour before using ; strain and whip 
the cream to a firm froth. A teaspoonful of powdered gum- 
arabic, dissolved in a little orange-flower water, may be added 
to give the cream more firmness, if desired. 

Whipped Cream with Liqueurs. — Proceed as with coffee 
cream, flavoring the cream before whipping with Curacoa, Ma- 
raschino, or any other cordial that may be desired. Other 
creams can be made on the same principle with chocolate ex- 
tracts or highly-flavored wines. 

Bavarian Cream. — Whip one pint of cream to a stiff froth 
and set in a colander one minute, to allow unwhipped portion 
to drip away ; boil one pint of milk with a stick of vanilla 
and half a cupful of sugar until flavor is extracted ; then 
take out stick of vanilla, and remove sauce-pan from fire ; 



84 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

- 

add half a box of Cox's gelatine that has been soaked in 
water; add the well-beaten whites of four eggs, and when the 
mixture has become quite cold add the whipped cream gradu- 
ally until it is well mixed ; put into individual moulds a 
teaspoonful of some bright jelly or jam, then pour in the 
mixture and place in ice-box until wanted. This cream may 
be flavored in any way desired. 

Ice-Cream. — Use only the best materials for making and 
flavoring. Avoid using milk thickened with arrow-root, corn- 
starch, or any farinaceous substance. Pure cream, ripe natu- 
ral fruits, or the extracts of same, and sugar of the purest 
quality, combine to make a perfect ice-cream. In the first 
place secure a good ice-cream freezer. Of these several are 
made. Without recommending any particular make, we 
would suggest that one be secured working with a crank and 
revolving dashers. Next secure an ice-tub, not less than 
eight inches greater in diameter than the freezer. See that 
it has a hole in the side near the bottom, with a plug, which 
can be drawn at pleasure, to let off water accumulated from 
melting ice. Get a spatula of hard wood — not metal — with 
a blade about twelve inches long and four or five inches wide, 
and oval-shaped at end. This is used to scrape off cream 
which may adhere to the sides of freezer in process of freez- 
ing, also for working flavorings and fruits into cream. A 
smaller spade is also necessary for mixing salt and ice together 
and for depositing this mixture in the intervening space be- 
tween can and ice- tub. Ice must be pounded fine in a coarse, 
strong bag. To freeze the cream, assuming it to be already 
flavored, first pound up ice and mix with it a quantity of coarse 
salt, in the proportion of one-third the quantity of salt to 
amount of ice used. Put freezing-can in centre of tub, taking 
care that lid is securely fastened down, and pile the mixed ice 
and salt around it on inside of tub to within three inches of 
top. First turn crank slowly, and as cream hardens increase the 
speed until mixture is thoroughly congealed, and revolving 
dashers are "frozen in." Eemove the lid, take out dashers, 
cut away the cream which has adhered to the sides, and pro- 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 85 

ceed to work the mixture with the spatula until it is smooth 
and soft to the tongue. Reinsert the dashers, cover can 
again, and work crank until entire contents are hard and 
well set. It is now ready to be served. 

Vanilla Cream. — Four quarts of very rich cream, contain- 
ing no milk ; split two good-sized vanilla beans and cut up 
into small pieces ; two pounds of powdered sugar and four 
fresh eggs ; beat the eggs thoroughly in a porcelain-lined 
dish; add the sugar, and stir both well together; add the 
cream and throw in vanilla; place on fire, stirring con- 
stantly until boiling commences, but do not retain it there 
an instant after that time; strain through a hair sieve, and 
when cool pour it into the freezer and freeze. 

Lemon Ice-Cream. — Grate off the yellow rind of two large 
fresh lemons, with half a pound of loaf sugar, using care not 
to grate a particle of the white, leathery pith beneath ; 
crush the sugar to a powder, strain over it the juice of one 
lemon ; add a pint of rich cream ; stir until sugar is dissolved 
and freeze. 

Peach Ice Cream. — Pound to a pulp twelve whole canned 
peaches ; strain 'through a hair sieve and add six ounces of 
loaf-sugar which has been setting on fire to dissolve a few 
minutes ; add one pint and a half of cream and a few drops 
of cochineal to give it a nice peach-color ; freeze. Fruit 
creams of any kind can be made in same manner. 

Water Ices. — Lemon Ice : Rub the rinds of six lemons upon 
twelve square lumps of sugar ; squeeze over them the strained 
juice, half a pint of water, and a pint of syrup made by boil- 
ing three-quarters of a pound of sugar in nearly a pint of 
water ; put in an earthen crock for one hour and a half, 
then mix, strain, and freeze. The ice will be improved by 
adding the whites of three eggs beaten to a froth with six 
ounces of powdered sugar. Serve in glasses. 

Apricot Ice : Skin, divide, and stone six large ripe ap- 
ricots ; blanch, pound, and add the kernels to the fruit, 
with the juice of two lemons, half a pint of water and two 



86 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

ounces of clarified sugar ; put in an earthen crock for one 
hour and a half, then strain and mix the whites of three 
eggs beaten to a firm froth with four ounces of powdered 
sugar ; add this to the prepared water, mix thoroughly, and 
freeze. 

Orange Basket.— Eemove the fruit from interior of the 
orange carefully by making a small incision on one side of 
the orange, then cut the skin into shape of a basket, leaving 
about one half an inch of the stalk end for a handle. Fill 
the basket with ices, ice creams, frozen punches, whipped 
creams, jellies, etc. They look very pretty on a table. The 
fruit portion of orange can be utilized by removing the pith 
and seeds and sending to table sweetened with sugar, or used 
to make orange ice cream or ices. 

Good Coffee. — The following remarks addressed to the 
trade by Messrs. H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co. are so true 
and brief, yet so comprehensive, that I introduce them here : 

" Nothing is more generally desired or appreciated, no- 
thing harder to find, than a uniformly good cup of coffee. Its 
production is generally considered an easy matter, but it in- 
volves the observance of a considerable number of conditions 
by a considerable number of persons, and a volume might be 
written about these and still leave much to be said. We will, 
however, briefly state the most important requisites. 

"The wholesale dealer must exercise care and judgment 
in his selections, as there is almost as much difference in the 
flavor of coffee as there is of tea ; this is especially true of 
Mocha, Java, Maracaibo, and other fancy coffees, of which 
frequently the brightest and handsomest looking lots are 
greatly lacking in the flavor and aroma which constitute the 
chief value of coffee, and which can be ascertained only by 
testing carefully each invoice purchased. It should be 
roasted by a professional roaster, as this is a very important 
part of the programme, and requires skill, experience, and 
constant practice. Expert roasters are usually experienced 
men and command high salaries. A bad coffee-roaster is 
dear at any price, as the coffee may be ruined or its value 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 87 

greatly injured by an error in judgment or an instant's inat- 
tention. Owing to these circumstances, in addition to the 
fact that in order to do good work it is necessary to roast a 
considerable quantity at a time, none of the small hand- 
machines produce uniformly good results, and they are only 
to be tolerated where distance makes it impossible for the re- 
tail merchant to obtain regular and (when not in air-tight 
packages) frequent supplies of the roasted article. How 
much it should be roasted is also an important part of the 
question; for making ''black" or "French" coffee, it 
should be roasted higher than usual (the French also often 
add a little chiccory), and some sections are accustomed to a 
higher roast than others, but as a whole the customary New 
York standard will best suit the average American palate. 

" Retail dealers should buy their roasted coffee of a reli- 
able house that has a reputation to sustain, and that cannot 
be induced to cut down prices below what they can afford to 
furnish an article that will do them credit ; do not buy much 
at a time (unless in air-tight packages), a week or ten days' 
supply is enough, and if you are situated so you can buy it 
twice a week so much the better. Keep it in a dry place, 
and, if possible, in a tin can which shuts tightly, never in a 
pine box or bin, for the smell of the wood is quickly absorbed 
by the coffee. Get your customers in the habit of buying it 
in the berry, or, if they have no mill at home and want you 
to grind it for them (every grocer should have a mill), grind 
it pretty fine, so that when used the strength is readily ex- 
tracted, but do not sell them much at a time, as it is a neces- 
sity to have coffee freshly ground. 

"Consumers should adopt the above suggestions to retail 
dealers — buy of a reliable dealer who will not represent an in- 
ferior article as 'Java'; buy in small quantities, and buy 
often ; keep it dry and in a tightly-closed tin can, or in a 
glass or earthen jar. Have a small ' hand coffee-mill,' and 
grind only when ready to use it ; and if during rainy weath- 
er the kernels become damp and tough, warm them up in a 
clean pot or skillet, but do not scorch them ; this drives off 
the moisture, restores the flavor, and makes it grind better. 



88 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

The grinding is an important feature ; if ground too coarse, 
you lose much of the strength and aroma of the coffee ; if too 
tine, it is hard to make it clear, but of the two the latter is 
least objectionable ; both the strength and flavor of the coffee, 
however, is a necessity, and if a little of the finely-powdered 
coffee flows out with the liquid extract, it is clean and will 
hurt nobody. It is better, however, to grind it just right, 
which is so that the largest pieces will be no larger than pin- 
heads. 

" We now come to the important part of making coffee. 
For this there are many receipts and formulas, including a 
large number of new and so-called improved coffee pots, but 
we l>ave never seen any of the new methods which in the long- 
run gave as satisfactory results as the following old-fashioned 
receipt : 

" Grind moderately fine a large cup of coffee ; break into it 
one egg with shell ; mix well, adding just enough cold water 
to thoroughly wet the grounds ; upon this pour one pint of 
boiling water; let it boil slowly for ten to fifteen minutes, 
and then stand three minutes to settle ; pour through a fine 
wire sieve into coffee-pot, which should be first ringed with 
hot water ; this will make enough for four persons. Coffee 
should he served as soon as made. At table first rinse the cup 
with hot water, put in the sugar, then fill half full of hot 
milk, add your coffee, and you have a delicious beverage that 
will be a revelation to many poor mortals who have an indis- 
tinct remembrance of and an intense longing for an ideal cup 
of coffee. If you have cream, so much the better; and in 
that case boiling water can be added either in the pot or cup 
to make up for the space occupied by the milk, as above ; or 
condensed milk will be found a good substitute for cream. 

"General remarks. — We have thus briefly indicated the points 
necessary to be observed in obtaining uniformly good coffee, 
whether made from Eio, or Java, and other mild-flavored 
coffees. In the Eastern and Middle States Mocha, Java, 
Maracaibo, Ceylon, etc., are most highly esteemed and gen- 
erally used ; but at the West and in the South more Eio coffee 
is consumed. The coffee par excelltnce, however, is a mixture 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 89 

of Mocha and Java roasted together, and thus thoroughly 
blended. Mocha alone is too rough and acrid to suit many- 
palates, but blended as above it is certainly delicious. In all 
varieties, however, there is a considerable range as to quality 
and flavor, and, as before stated, the best guide for the con- 
sumer is to buy of a reliable dealer, and throw upon his 
shoulders the responsibility of furnishing a satisfactory ar- 
ticle. 

"Hotels and restaurants that desire good coffee should 
make it in small quantities and more frequently. It is im- 
possible for coffee to be good when it is kept simmering for 
hours after it is made." 

"A Cup of Coffee."— The author of " Salad for the Solitary," 
efo., has so well covered all the facts concerning the origin 
and history of this domestic beverage that little remains to 
be said ; but as the establishment of the first coffee-house in 
London is connected with a curious anecdote, perhaps my 
readers will like to hear it. 

Mr. D. Edwards, a Turkish merchant, on his return from 
Smyrna to London, brought with him a Greek of Ragusa, 
named Pasquet Rossee, who used to prepare coffee every 
morning for his master. Edwards's neighbors, beginning to 
appreciate the good qualities of this beverage, became so 
numerous as visitors at breakfast-time that in order to get 
rid of them he ordered Rossee to open a coffee-house, which 
the latter did in St. Michael's Alley, Oornhill. This was the 
first coffee-house in the city. 

Now, taking its popularity as a basis, let us laugh at the 
doctors who maintain the theory that hot coffee irritates the 
stomach and injures the nerves. Let us tell them that Vol- 
taire, Fontenelle, and Fourcroy, who were great coffee-drink- 
ers, lived to a good old age. Let us laugh, too, at Madame 
Sevigne, who predicted that coffee and Racine would be for- 
gotten together. — Exchange. 



90 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

VEGETABLES. 
Potatoes. — To boil a potato properly is very naturally sup- 
posed to be a very easy matter, but how seldom do we meet 
with one boiled to a proper turn ? In 1873, while out hunting 
in northwestern Minnesota, I stopped at an old log-cabin for 
dinner. The proprietor of the hostelry was an old down- 
East Yankee, who, suffering from a lung complaint, had taken 
his family out West, and had pre-empted one hundred and 
sixty acres, there to remain the rest of his days. I had the 
good fortune of having a well-filled pocket-pistol of brandy 
with me (to be used for medicinal purposes only), which I 
soon converted into milk-punch while his wife was preparing 
dinner. He was delighted with it, and told me that it was 
the first drop of spirits he had seen or tasted for several 
years (and I believed him, from the manner in which that 
punch disappeared). This set him to telling me what a 
splendid cook his wife was, and that she could beat "all 
tarnation a' biling taters. " I left him immediately and offered 
my services to madam as second cook, my object being to 
learn her trick of boiling potatoes. At last dinner was ready, 
the cloth spread, and while the judge (as he was called) set 
the table I looked for a garden (?) to get a salad. Not finding 
the cultivated article, I had to resort to the field, and obtain- 
ed a few edible weeds, washed and dried them, and prepared 
them for dinner. 

Our Bill of Fare. 

Vegetable Soup. 

Smoked Shad with drawn Butter. 

Roast Rump of Salted Beef. 

Boiled Potatoes. 

Parsnip Fritters. 

Weed Salad. 

Home-made Cheese. Cold Johnny-cake. 

Acorn Coffee. 

My long tramp over the prairie hunting prairie-chickens 
may possibly have had something to do with my ferocious 
appetite, but I do not remember an occasion when I enjoyed 
myself so mucli at table or ate so heartily. The dinner was 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 91 

a success, and the potatoes surpassed all expectations. I am 
not much of a potato-eater, but on this occasion I surprised 
myself by asking for a potato the third time. 

Her receipt for boiling potatoes was very simple. She 
washed them well and peeled off a strip about a quarter of an 
inch wide lengthwise round each potato, placed them in an 
old iron pot, covered them with fresh rain-water (cold), and 
added a teaspoonful of salt. She allowed them to boil fifteen 
minutes, and then poured out a quart of the hot water and 
added a quart dipperful of cold water. When the edge of 
the peel began to curl up, she pronounced them done, and 
removed them from the pot, covered the bottom of a baking- 
tin with them, placed them in the oven with a towel over 
them for fifteen minutes, with the oven-door open. They were 
splendid. 

The roast rump of salt beef was a new dish to me, but it 
was very good. It had stood in water twenty-four hours to 
extract the salt from it. It was a little dry and a trifle too 
well done. 

My salad was composed of a few dandelions that had grown 
in a shady spot, a few inch dock-leaves, the tip-ends of the 
milk- weed, and a few wild chives, with bacon dressing; but 
I had no vinegar. As a substitute I gathered a handful of 
sheep sorrel, chopped it up fine, and sprinkled it over the 
salad. 

On my departure the judge addressed me as Mr. Weed- 
eater, and requested me to make his cabin my home when- 
ever I was in Minnesota. 

Cabbage. — Never buy overgrown cabbages. They may 
appear very pleasing to the eye, but they are apt to be too 
coarse and too full of fibres to make a palatable dish. Do 
not trim off the outer leaves until the day they are wanted. 
It is a good plan to purchase a few dozen heads of cabbage 
with the stalks on, and hang them up in the cellar, heads 
down ; then cut them down when wanted. Cut the heads 
into quarters ; trim off all wilted leaves ; cover them with cold 
water ; add a handful of salt, and let them stand an hour 



92 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

before boiling. This process thoroughly cleanses them from 
insects, etc., that may be concealed between the leaves. When 
ready to boil cover "them with boiling water ; add a pea of 
soda, a little salt, and boil till tender. The old-fashioned 
way of boiling cabbage and other vegetables for a boiled dinner 
with the joint is not to be recommended for families outside 
of the farm, as it makes althogether too hearty a meal for 
those taking but little exercise. 

Boiled Asparagus. — If the cut end of asparagus is brown and 
dry and the heads bent on one side, the asparagus is stale. 
It may be kept a day or two with the stalks in cold water, 
but it is much better fresh. Scrape off the white skin from 
the lower end, and cut the stalks of equal length ; let them 
lie in cold water until it is time to cook them ; tie the 
asparagus in small bundles, put them into a pot with plenty 
of water, and a handful of salt. When the asparagus is 
sufficiently cooked serve it on toast with drawn butter or 
with cream dressing, sauce vinaigrette, etc. 

Boiled Artichokes. — Soak the artichokes and wash them in 
several waters ; cut the stalks even ; trim away the lower 
leaves, and the ends of the others ; boil in salted water with 
the tops downwards, and let them remain until the leaves can 
be easily drawn out. Before serving remove the choke and 
send to table with melted butter. 

Jerusalem Artichokes. — Peel the artichokes and throw 
each root into cold water and vinegar immediately, to preserve 
the color. Put them into boiling water, with a little salt, 
until sufficiently tender for a fork to pass through them 
easily ; then pile them on a dish, and serve as hot as possible 
with melted butter or white sauce poured over. Soyer shaped 
them like a pear, then stewed them gently in three pints of 
water with two or three onions thinly sliced, one ounce of 
salt, and one ounce of butter. He then placed a border of 
mashed potatoes round a dish, stuck the artichokes in it points 
upwards, poured over them either white sauce or melted 
butter, and put a fine Brussels sprout between each. It made 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 93 

a pretty, inviting dish. Time to boil, about twenty minutes. 
They should be tried with a fork frequently after a quarter 
of an hour, as they will become black and tasteless if allowed 
to remain on the lire longer than necessary. 

Brussels Sprouts. — Pick, trim, and wash a number of 
sprouts ; put them into plenty of fast- boiling water. The 
sudden immersion of the vegetables will check the boiling 
for some little time, but they must be brought to a boil as 
quickly as possible, that they may not lose their green color. 
Add a tablespoonful of salt and a pea of soda, and boil 
very fast for fifteen minutes. Lose no time in draining 
them when sufficiently done ; and serve plain, or with a little 
white sauce over the top. 

Green Peas. — To have green peas in perfection, care should 
be taken to obtain them young, freshly-gathered, and freshly- 
shelled. The condition of the peas may be known from the 
appearance of the shells. When the peas are young the 
shells are green, when newly-gathered they are crisp, when 
old they look yellow, and when plump the peas are fine and 
large. If peas are shelled some hours before they are cooked 
they lose greatly in flavor. 

Bottled Green Peas. — Shell the peas ; put them into dry, 
wide-mouthed bottles, and shake them together so that they 
may lie in as little space as possible ; cork the bottles closely, 
and seal the corks ; bury the bottles in dry earth in the 
cellar, and take them up as they are wanted. They will keep 
three or four months. 

Boiled Turnips. — Turnips should only be served whole when 
they are very young, and then they should be covered with 
white sauce. When they have reached any size they should 
be mashed. Pare the turnips, and wash them ; if very young 
a little of the green top may be left on ; if very large they 
should be divided into halves or even quarters ; throw them 
into slightly-salted water, and let them boil gently till tender ; 
drain and serve them. 



94 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Carrots. — This vegetable is almost invariably sent to table 
with boiled beef. When the carrots are young they should 
be washed and brushed, not scraped, before cooking — and 
old carrots also are better prepared in this way — then rubbed 
with a clean coarse cloth after boiling. Young carrots require 
an hour for cooking, and fully-grown ones from one hour and 
a half to two hours. The red is the best part. In order to 
ascertain if the root is sufficiently cooked, stick a fork into 
it. When they feel soft they are ready for serving. 

Boiled Celery. — Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, 
with a little salt in it. Wash the celery carefully ; cut off 
the outer leaves, make the stalks even, and lay them in small 
bunches ; throw these into the water, and let them boil 
gently until tender, leaving the saucepan uncovered. When 
done, drain, and place them on a piece of toast which has 
been dipped in the liquid ; pour over them a little good 
melted butter, and serve. 

Boiled Spinach. — Take two pailfuls of spinach, young and 
freshly-gathered. Pick away the stalks, wash the leaves in 
several waters, lift them out with the hands that the sand 
or grit may remain at the bottom, and drain them on a sieve. 
Put them into a saucepan with as much boiling water slightly 
salted as will keep them from burning, and let them boil 
until tender. Take the spinach up, drain it, and press it 
well ; chop it small, and put it into a clean saucepan with a 
little pepper and salt and a slice of fresh butter; stir it well 
for five minutes. Serve with the yolk of hard-boiled egg. 

Onion. — This vegetable may be regarded either as a condi- 
ment or as an article of real nourishment. By boiling it is 
deprived of much of its pungent volatile oil, and becomes 
agreeable, mild, and nutritious. There is no vegetable about 
which there is so much diversity of opinion as there is about 
the onion, some persons liking a little of it in every dish, 
and others objecting to it entirely. Generally speaking, how- 
ever, a slight flavoring of onion is an improvement to the 
majority of made dishes, but it should not be too strong. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 95 

The smell which arises from the esculent during cooking and 
the unpleasant odor it imparts to the breath of those who 
partake of it are the principal objections which are urged 
against it. The latter may be partially remedied by eating 
a little raw parsley before and after it. When onions are 
used for stuffing, the unpleasant properties belonging to them 
would be considerably lessened if a lemon, freed from the 
outer rind but covered as thickly as possible with the white 
skin, were put in the midst of them, and thrown away when 
the dish is ready for the table. Onions may be rendered much 
milder if two or three waters are used in boiling them. 
Spanish onions are not so strong as the English, and are 
generally considered superior in flavor. The largest are 
the best. 

Boiled Beets. — Wash, but do not cut them, as it would de- 
stroy their sweetness ; put them on to boil in a sufficiency 
of water, and let them boil from two to three hours, or until 
they are perfectly tender ; then take them up, peel and 
slice them, and pour vinegar or melted butter over them. 
The root is excellent as a salad, and as a garnish for other 
salads it is desirable on account of the brightness of its color. 

Boiled Corn. — Strip the ears, pick off the silk, and put them 
in a pot of water with a little salt ; boil half an hour. 
When done, cut off the corn from the cob and season it 
with butter, pepper, and more salt if necessary, or serve on 
the ear. 

Oyster-Plant. — Scrape the roots lightly ; either cut them 
into three-inch lengths, or leave them whole, and throw them 
into water with a little lemon till wanted ; put them into 
boiling salt and water, and keep them boiling quickly till 
tender ; drain them, arrange on toast upon a hot dish, and 
pour over them good melted butter, white sauce, or sauce 
maitre d'hotel. 

Boiled Cauliflower. — Cut the stalk close to the bottom, and 
pare away the tops of the leaves, leaving a circle of shortened 
leafstalks all round. Put the cauliflower head downwards 



96 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

into a little vinegar and water for a quarter of an hour. 
Put it into a pan of boiling water, with a tablespoon ful of 
salt in it. Some persons prefer milk and water. Remove 
the scum carefully as it rises or the cauliflower will be dis- 
colored. Boil till tender. This may be ascertained by taking 
a little piece of the stalk between the finger and thumb, and 
if it yields easily to pressure it is ready. Drain, and serve. 
Put a lump of butter the size of an egg into a saucepan with 
a cupful of cold water ; add gradually a teaspoonful of flour, 
mix smoothly, boil, and strain over the vegetable. 

Boiled Horse Radish. — Cut each root into pieces two inches 
in length, and each piece into quarters ; boil in water con- 
taining a little salt and one tablespoonf ul of vinegar. When 
tender drain, place the strips on a napkin, and send to table 
with drawn butter. This vegetable is seldom used except as 
a condiment or sauce ingredient. Although ignored in any 
other form, it is one of the most nutritious and healthful of 
all vegetables. It makes an excellent dish when used in equal 
portions with any vegetables handled in making fritters. 

Stewed Cucumber. — Peel and quarter two cucumbers length- 
wise ; put them in a saucepan, add one teaspoonful of salt and 
one dozen whole peppers. When tender take them out ; 
place them on toast, the edges of which have been dipped in 
water used in stewing. Pour drawn butter over them, well 
"easoned with cayenne pepper, and serve. 

Stewed Dandelion. — The first mention of this dish will per- 
haps inspire most American people with aversion, but I can 
honestly advise them to try it. It is an inexpensive dish, 
and easily obtained ; for fresh growths after showery weather 
may be had throughout the year. Gather a quantity of fresh 
dandelion ; pick off all the withered tips and hard parts ; 
shred them into strips, and wash them free from grit ; put 
the dandelion into a stewpan with a strip of bacon, and add 
one tablespoonful of vinegar ; cover it with a small quantity 
of boiling water, and stew until tender. Mash with a wooden 
spoon ; stir in a lump of butter; flavor with pepper and salt, 



Valuable Cooking .Receipts. 97 

and serve like spinach. The dish may be garnished in a 
variety of ways, either with hard-boiled eggs, sippets of fried 
bread, or slices of boiled carrot cut into shapes. It is usually 
served with white meats, as veal, sweet-breads, etc., but it is 
excellent as a garnish for poached egg?. 

The following weeds are all good greens if properly treated: 
the milk-weed, the different docks, fat hen, ox-tongue, 
jack-by-rhe-hedge, sea-holly (a substitute. for asparagus), sea 
beet, shepherd's purse, sow thistle, hawk-weed, stinging 
nettle, willow herb, pile-wort, Solomon's seal, lamb's quarter, 
and a number of other weeds common to this country, and 
known only to a few. Once known they would be much 
sought after. 



TABLE ETIQUETTE. 

The following article from Harper's Bazaar is so appro- 
priate under this head that we take the liberty of inserting it 
entire : 

" Table Etiquette. — There are a few points of table eti- 
quette not directly connected with the giving and receiving of 
dinners and teas, but which are of the first importance, as they 
concern individual behavior. We would be inclined to think 
every one acquainted with them, and allusion to them a mat- 
ter of supererogation on our part, if it were not that we see 
them so frequently violated. Those of our reades who are, 
or who have always been, familiar with them will perhaps 
pardon our speaking of them for the sake of those who are 
not. 

" We do not expect to see these gaucheries in the best society; 
but there are many people perfectly well fitted for the best 
society but for ignorance concerning these things, which, al- 
though trifles in themselves, are of such infinite importance 
on the whole. For instance, where all the requirements are 
not fully known, if a general cessation of conversation should 
suddenly supervene upon the serving of the soup, would there 
be silence in the place ? Not at all ; the gap would be filled 



98 Valuable Cooking Receipts, 

with a continuous bubbling sound from the mouth of some 
one or other unlucky wight whose mother never taught him 
to take soup properly, and who is possibly disturbing and 
disgusting all those that do better, and who know how easily 
the trouble might be avoided. Soup is to be taken from the 
side of the spoon, not from the tip, and it is not to be sucked 
in, but the spoon being slightly tilted, it is rather poured 
into the mouth than otherwise, the slightest silent inhala- 
tion being sufficient for the rest. 

"Another generally neglected obligation is that of spreading 
butter on one's bread as it lies in one's plate, or but slightly 
lifted at one end from the plate ; it is very frequently but- 
tered in the air, bitten in gouges, and still held in the face 
and eyes of the table with the marks of the teeth on it. This 
is certainly not altogether pleasant, and it is better to cut it 
a bit at a time, after buttering it, and put piece by piece in 
the mouth with one's finger and thumb. 

" Let us mention a few ti lings concerning the eating of which 
there is sometimes doubt. A cream-cake, and anything of 
similar nature, should be eaten with knife and fork — never 
bitten. Asparagus — which should always be served on bread 
or toast, so as to absorb superfluous moisture — may be taken 
from the finger and thumb ; if it is fit to be set before you, 
the whole of it may be eaten. Peas and beans, as we all 
know, require the fork only. Potatoes, if mashed, should 
be eaten with the fork. Green corn should be eaten from 
the cob ; but it must be held with a single hand, and not 
after the fashion of the alderman's wife at the lord mayor's 
dinner. French artichokes are to be eaten with the fingers, 
slightly pulled apart at the top and one of the leaves pulled 
out with finger and thumb ; the fleshy end of this leaf is then 
dipped in the salad dressing served with it, and only that 
atom of a paler color at the bottom of the leaf is taken as it 
peels off between the lips, when the dry portion is to be laid 
back in the plate. It is always served as a separate course 
by itself ; a pretty hand looks very pretty indeed when fin- 
gering a French artichoke. Celery, cresses, radishes, and all 
that sort of thing are, of course, to be eaten from the fingers; 



Valuable Cooking Jteceijjts. 99 

the salt should be laid upon one's plate, not upon the cloth. 
Fish is to be eaten with the fork, without the assistance of 
the knife ; a bit of bread in the left hand sometimes helps 
one to master a refractory morsel. 

"It is best to be very moderate in the beginning of a dinner, 
as one does not know what is to follow, and all the rest may 
be spoiled for one by an opposite course. We remember the 
case of a lady in Mexico, who, dining with the governor of 
the province, was served for the first course with a hash. 
She was somewhat surprised ; but it was a very good hash, 
and she really made her dinner upon it. But the next course 
was also hash — there were seventeen courses of hash before 
the main dinner, of every delicious delicacy under the sun, 
made its appearance ! Of course, a tiny morsel of each hash, 
for the sake of the flavoring, was all she should have taken ; 
as it was, she sat afterwards like Tantalus. 

" Berries, of course, are to be eaten with a spoon. In Eng- 
land they are served with their hulls on, and three or four 
are considered an ample quantity. But, then, in England 
they are many times the size of ours ; there they take the 
big berry by the stem, dip it into powdered sugar, and eat it 
as we do the turnip-radish. It is not proper to drink with a 
spoon in the cup, nor should one, by the way, ever quite 
drain cup or glass. Spoons are sometimes used with pud- 
dings, but forks are the better style. A spoon should never 
be turned over in the mouth. Ladies have frequently an 
affected way of holding the knife half-way down its length, 
as if it were too big for their little hands, but this is as awk- 
ward a way as it is weak ; the knife should be grasped freely 
by the handle only, the forefinger being the only one to touch 
the blade, and that only along the back of the blade at its 
root, and no further down. In sending one's plate to be 
helped a second time, one should retain one's knife and fork, 
for the convenience of waiter and carver. At the conclusion 
of a course where they have been used, knife and fork should 
be laid side by side on the plate — never crossed ; the old cus- 
tom of crossing them was in obedience to an ancient religi- 
ous formula. The servant should offer everything at the 



100 Valuable Cooking ^Receipts. 

left of the guest, that the guest nuiy be at liberty to use the 
right hand. If one has been given a napkin ring, it is ne- 
cessary to fold one's napkin and use the ring ; otherwise the 
napkin should be left unfolded. One's teeth are not to be 
picked at table; but if it is impossible to hinder it, it should 
be done behind the napkin. One may pick a bone at the ta- 
ble, but, as with corn, only one hand is allowed to touch it ; 
yet one can usually get enough from it with knife and fork, 
which is certainly the more elegant way of doing; and to 
take her teeth to it gives a lady the look of caring a little too 
much for the pleasures of the table ; one is, however, on no 
account to suck one's fingers after it. 

" Wherever there is any doubt as to the best way to do a 
thing, it is wise to follow that which is the most rational, and 
that will almost invariably be found to be the proper eti- 
quette. There is a reason for everything in polite usage ; thus, 
the reason why one does not blow a thing to cool it is not 
only that it is an inelegant and vulgar action intrinsically, 
but because it may be offensive to others — cannot help being 
so, indeed ; and it, moreover, implies haste, which, whether 
resulting from greediness or from a desire to get away, is 
equally rude and objectionable. Everything else may be as 
easily traced to its origin in the fit and becoming. 

" If, to conclude, one seats one's self properly at table, 
and takes reason into account, one will do tolerably well. 
One must not pull one's chair too closely to the table, for the 
natural result of that is the inability to use one's knife and 
fork without inconveniencing one's neighbors; the elbows 
are to be held well in and close to one's side, which cannot 
be done if the chair is too near the board. One must not lie 
or lean along the table, nor rest one's arms u])on it. Nor is 
one to touch any of the dishes ; if a member of the family, 
one can exercise all the duties of hospitality through servants, 
and wherever there are servants, neither family nor guests 
are to pass or help from any dish." 

I would here disclaim against the disgusting habit of 
mouth-rinsing so prevalent at many dinner-parties. The 
bad taste of such a procedure seems to me so evident that 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 101 

everybody of refinement would avoid it. Yet I have repeat- 
edly seen it resorted to in fashionable society. 



BANQUET SERVICE. 

The correct or proper manner of taking care of a number 
of guests that have assembled before the hour of dinner or 
supper has always been a puzzling problem to the novice in 
this line of business ; but a first-class caterer will always be 
willing to help the host oat of the dilemma, provided the 
host does not pretend to know more about the business than 
the caterer. It is a very good plan to have a colored servant 
at the door, another to receive the coat, hat, and cane, and 
give a paper check therefor, and still another to usher the 
guests to the reception-room, where they will find the host 
holding court over a bowl of lemonade or a light punch. The 
guests are eventually summoned to the banquet-room, but just 
before they enter it is " in good form " to serve them with a 
glass of plain Vermouth, or a Vermouth cocktail, as an ap- 
petizer. White servants are particularly to be recommend- 
ed for the dining-room. 

They then sit down to a repast, served in the following 
order (assuming of course that the table is set for a ban- 
quet) : 

No less than three, or more than five, oysters on the plate 
of each guest (with celery on table if in season). The oyster 
plates and forks are removed. Next serve the soups, with 
a grated rusk, plain roll, or French bread. Hors-d'oeuvres, 
or whets, are now in order. Next serve the boiled releve ; 
then the heavy entree ; after which serve the light entree. 
Your guests will now expect the punch Roumaine, after 
which serve a good Russian cigarette (if gentlemen only). 
Then the roast joint ; after which serve the game. Then 
the light salad, with a plain French dressing. Next the 
sweet entremet. The table should now be cleared ; cheese 
and hard cracker offered ; then the ices, with cake, etc., 
confectionery, dessert, coffee, liquors and cigars. The ap- 



102 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

propriate vegetables to be passed round with each joint or 
dish where they naturally belong. 

The proper wines for above banquet are : with oysters, 
white Burgundies, Sauternes, and, if no other wine is at 
hand, a bottle of still Moselle may be served ; with the soup, 
Sherry and Madeira ; with the releves of fish, Hock wines ; 
with the boiled joints, light Bordeaux: (claret) and Burgun- 
dy wines ; with the entrees, champagnes (though cham- 
pagne may be served from the beginning to the end of din- 
ner if asked for), after the last entree serve the punch Rou- 
maine, cardinal, etc., with cigarette if desired. A Rhenish 
wine may be on table to prepare the palate for the roast, 
and to counteract the sweetness of the punch. With the 
roasts and game heavy Burgundy and Bordeaux. At many 
English banquets port wine is sprinkled over the lettuce, 
and cheese and crackers are served at the same time, but it is 
not a modern custom. With the sweets, sherry and Ma- 
deira. A spoonful of brandy added to the coffee will aid 
digestion. 

A pony of half green Chartreuse and S. 0. P. brandy is 
excellent at the end of a dinner. 

Serve the punch Roumaine after the last entree, and not 
after the roast, as I have occasionally seen it on bills of 
fare. 

Remember that venison cools rapidly. Iced or cold wines 
should not be served with it. Hot plates should not be for- 
gotten. 

Rhine wine takes kindly to boiled or roast ham. 

Have you tried blanched almonds sauteed with a little 
butter, and seasoned with salt and pepper, and served after 
the cheese ? 

But one might suggest in this way indefinitely. The sub- 
ject is inexhaustible. 

Remarks on Wines. — A guest should not be censured " by 
looks " from the host if he refuses to drink any other wine 
than that served with the first course, provided it is of a 
good vintage and pleases his palate. Good, honest wines 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 103 

should be served at all large entertainments, but ''private 
stock" and "rare vintages" should be reserved for the more 
private affairs, where the guests are personal friends of the 
host, and, though not recognized as wine-drinkers, they are 
good judges of and appreciate thoroughly a good glass of 
wine. The promiscuous gathering (with few exceptions) sel- 
dom appreciates a rare bottle of still wine. Their ideal 
wine is the champagne. I have often seen a bottle of splen- 
did Chateau Yqueni and Johannesberger pushed aside as 
" stuff " the moment the champagne appeared, and by gentle- 
men whom I had previously considered Ion vivants. They 
will tell you that a wine with a deposit or crust cannot be 
pure, and it is only a waste of time to attempt to explain that 
old wines without a deposit are more or less doctored. 

The host should be censured for sending his cellar curiosi- 
ties to table when the majority of the guests are strangers to 
him. 

On decanting wines, Denman has observed: " To fully de- 
velop the flavor and bouquet of any wine a little gentle warmth 
is necessary, and it is therefore advisable that the wines in- 
tended for immediate use should be placed in a warmer tem- 
perature than that of the cellar"; and Fin-Bee adds "that 
the dining-room is the proper place," which is the cus- 
tom among first-class caterers. The heavy wines should re- 
main in the dining-room uncorked a few hours under the su- 
pervision of a trusty person, for the average waiter is partial 
to good wine, and can remove a bottle as dexterously as a 
king of legerdemain. 

Francatelli insists that the different kinds of sherries, ports, 
Maderia, and all Spanish and Portuguese wines are improved 
by being decanted several hours before dinner. 

His advice and suggestions are proper ; but does it not 
please the eye — is there not an unwritten history in all the 
dark cobwebs, etc., that cling with a brotherly affection to 
the original bottle? 

The favorite Hocks with Americans are P. A. Mumm's Jo- 
hannesberg, Barton & Guestier's, Henkell & Co.'s wines, and a 
few other well-known reliable firms. Prince Metternich, 



104 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Schloss Johannesberg wines are very good, but " Blue Seal "is 
held at too high a figure ($150 per case) to ever become popular. 

P. A. Mumm's Hock wines are favorites, and justly so, tor 
they are entirely free from adulteration. 

At an American banquet recently given in London, the fa- 
vorite wine was Heidsieck, on the ground that it was one of 
i he first wines to find popular favor in America. This in- 
formation will, no doubt, surprise wine-drinking Americans, 
for if our custom-house reports of importation are reliable, 
we have discovered several Rheims wines that are decidedly su- 
perior to Heidsieck. The importation in 1879 of G. H. 
Mumm's champagne alone was twenty-two thousand five 
hundred and twenty-six cases more than of any other brand. 

Pommery and Cliquot (the two widows), Roederer dry, 
Moet & Chandon, Imperial, and a few others are all good 
dinner wines. 

Sparkling Hock, if properly handled, is a wine that should 
find favor in this country, but the demand is so limited that 
it is very apt to spoil before the case is used up. That made 
from the Riesling grape is the best. 

American champagnes (and it grieves me to Fay it) are not 
the proper wines to serve at a banquet or dinner Their pecu- 
liar acrid taste does not suit a palate that has been educated 
on foreign wines. They may be served at a banquet given 
in a foreign country where every dish and every wine is 
purely American, or sent to the cook for his champagne (?) 
sauce, etc. A bottle of "Cook's Imperial" may be served 
at lunch, and it is proper enough at the end of the bar where 
the crackers and cheese hold court. It finds favor with the 
youth "seeing the sights" of a great city, but not elsewhere. 

Pierre Blot, in the Galaxy, observed " that American wines 
are just as good as foreign wines for the table and for cooking 
purposes. Bogus wines," he said, " are sold to native Ameri- 
cans almost entirely." Friend Blot evidently got in with the 
ivrong crowd when he visited us. 

The First Champagne. — It happened that about the year 1668 
the office of cellarer was conferred upon a worthy monk 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 105 

named Perignon. Poets and roasters, we know, are born, and 
not made ; and this precursor of the Moets and Cliquots, the 
Heidsiecks and the Munims of our days, seems to have been 
a heaven-born cellarman, with a strong head and a discrimi- 
nating palate. The wine exacted from the neighboring cul- 
tivators was of all qualities, good, bad, and indifferent; and 
with the spirit of a true Benedictine, Dom Perignon hit 
upon the idea of "marrying" the produce of one vineyard 
with that of another. He had noted that one kind of soil 
imparted fragrance and another generosity, and discovered 
that a white wine could be made from the blackest grapes, 
which would keep good, instead of turning yellow and de- 
generating like the wine obtained from white ones. More- 
over, the happy thought occurred to him that a piece of cork 
was a much more suitable stopper for a bottle than the flax 
dipped in oil which had heretofore served that purpose. 
The white, or, as it was sometimes styled, the gray wine of 
Champagne grew famous, and the manufacture spread 
throughout the province, but that of Hautvillers held the 
predominance. The cellarer, ever busy among his vats and 
presses, barrels and bottles, alighted upon a discovery des- 
tined to be far more important in its results. He found 
out the way of making an effervescent wine, a wine that 
burst out of the bottle and overflowed the glass, that was 
twice as dainty to the taste, and twice as exhilarating in its 
effects. It was at the close of the seventeenth century that 
this discovery was made, when the glory of the Roi Soleil 
was on the wane, and with it the splendor of the court of 
Versailles. The king for whose especial benefit liquors had 
been invented found a gleam of his youthful energy as he 
sipped the creamy, foaming vintage that enlivened his dreary 
tete-a-tete with the widow of Scarron. It found its chief 
patrons, however, among the bands of gay young roysterers, 
the future roues of the Regency, whom the Due d'Orleans 
and the Due de Vendome had gathered round them at the 
Palais Royal and at Anet. It was at one of the famous 
soupers d'Anet that the Marquis de Sillery, who had turned 
his sword into a pruning-knife and applied himself to the 



106 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

cultivation of his paternal vineyards on the principles incul- 
cated by the cellarer of St. Peter's, first introduced the wine 
bearing his name. The flower-wreathed bottles which, at a 
given signal, a dozen of blooming young damsels scantily 
draped in the guise of Bacchanals placed upon the table 
were hailed with rapture, and thenceforth sparkling wine 
was an indispensable adjunct at all the petits soupers of the 
period. In the highest circles the popping of champagne- 
corks seemed to ring the knell of sadness, and the victories 
of Marlborough were in a measure compensated for by this 
grand discovery. — London Society. 



MIXED DRINKS. 

My receipts under this head are inserted for the benefit of 
the gentlemen, many of whom in the course of my experience 
have bewailed their lack of knowledge on this point when 
wishing to entertain their male friends at home. 

Lemonade. — Take half a pound of loaf-sugar and reduce it 
to a syrup with one pint of water ; add the rind of five 
lemons and let stand an hour ; remove the rinds and add 
the strained juice of the lemons; add one bottle of " Apol- 
linaris " water, and a block of ice in centre of bowl. Peel one 
lemon and cut it up into thin slices, divide each slice in two, 
and put in lemonade. Claret or fine cordials may be added 
if desired. Serve with a piece of lemon in each glass. 

Milk Punch. — For a small party: Dissolve half a pound 
of sugar in a little hot water which has been flavored slightly 
with a little lemon peel ; add the syrup to two quarts of 
rich milk (cream is preferable) ; pour in one pint of brandy 
and one gill of Jamaica rum ; mix thoroughly, dust a little 
grated nutmeg over it, and set it in a cool place. Beat the 
whites of four eggs to a stiff froth with a little sugar and 
float on top of punch same as with egg-nogg. Sprinkle a 
little confectionery sugar over froth. Place a small piece of 
ice in each tumbler when serving. 

Egg-nogg. — For a small party : Separate the yolks and 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 107 

whites of twelve eggs ; beat the yolks thoroughly, add two 
heaping cupfuls of sugar and half a grated nutmeg ; beat 
the whole together thoroughly ; add half a pint of bran- 
dy, half that quantity of Jamaica or Santa Cruz rum, and 
two quarts of rich milk. Beat up the whites of six of the 
eggs to a stiff froth, float it on top of mixture, and dust with 
a little confectioner's sugar. Place a piece of ice in each 
tumbler when serving. 

Hot Tom and Jerry. — Separate the yolks and whites often 
eggs. Beat the yolks up thoroughly and add gradually four 
pounds of sugar. Beat up whites of eggs to a stiff froth and 
add gradually to above mixture. Flavor this batter with one 
wineglassful of Maraschino and a little nutmeg. Put one 
tablespoonful of this mixture into a china mug with a wine- 
glassful of brandy and one tablespoonful of rum, and fill up 
the mug with hot water, stir well and dust a little more 
grated nutmeg over it if desired. Sherry may be used 
instead of brandy if preferred. 

Hot Apple Toddy. — Heat a tumbler with hot water ; throw 
out the water ; put in one teaspoonful of sugar and one wine- 
glassful of apple brandy ; fill glass two-thirds full with hot 
water, add one quarter of a warm baked apple, a trifle of 
grated nutmeg, and send to table with spoon in the glass and 
some hard water crackers. 

Hot Spiced Rum. — Heat a glass with a little hot water; 
throw out the water ; put in one teaspoonful of sugar, one 
wineglassful of rum, a walnut of butter, three whole all- 
spice, one clove, and fill up with hot water. Dust a little 
grated nutmeg over top if desired. Substitute Scotch whis- 
key for rum if preferred. 

Santa Cruz Punch. — Place the juice of two lemons, one 
heaping tablespoonful of sugar, and a little water in a tum- 
bler ; stir a few minutes to dissolve the sugar ; add a wine- 
glassful of Santa Cruz rum ; fill up the goblet with fine ice ; 
add a slice each of orange, lemon, and pineapple. Stir well 
and serve with straws. 



108 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

The favorite brands of whiskies are the famous "Old 
Crow " Bourbon, "Hermitage" and " Monongahela Mono- 
gram " rye. 

Orange Co., N. Y., apple-jack is superior to that made 
in New Jersey. 

Have you tried the sherries from the oldest house in Spain 
— Juan Gmo. Burdon ? They are excellent. Served with 
our favorite dish, terrapin, the epicure exclaims : " The 
eternal fitness of things ! " 



PRESERVING, ETC. 

It is not many years since every good housewife felt 
called upon at least once a year to take a great deal of 
trouble in preserving a supply of fruit for use during the 
winter months. The purchase of fruit-jars, the picking, or 
purchase, and sorting of fruit, the purchase of sugar, the 
boiling and preparation of the syrup, oftentimes in the hot- 
test weather, was a task which many a good housewife looked 
forward to with some trepidation, while the uncertainties 
attending the keeping qualities of the preserves, after they 
were manufactured, made this a rather undesirable feature 
in housekeeping. 

Within a few years, however, all this has become unneces- 
sary ; the manufacture of preserves on a large scale, with 
skilled labor and improved appliances, has proven, as in 
many other branches of manufacture, a great success ; and 
while there are some thrifty housewives who still think 
their "home-made " preserves are better than the "store" 
article, it is undoubtedly true that the high-class preserves, 
such as are sold by Thurber, Park & Tilford, Acker, Mer- 
rall & Condit, and other first-class grocers, are decidedly 
fine, and in a number of cases far more appetizing and 
delicate than the home-made article. I say this with all 
due respect for the skill shown by many careful, conscien- 
tious housewives throughout the land, but in this case the 
doctrine " survival of the fittest," I think, is quite applica- 
ble. Too many people are apt to sit down, fold their 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 109 

hands, and disclaim against anything not made at home, at 
least as far as preserves and candied fruits are concerned. 
The sword, I must admit, cuts buth ways. While I have 
wrestled carefully and conscientiously at many houses with 
alleged preserves made at home, I have suffered the "pangs 
of Tantalus " from atrocious compounds put on the market 
by conscienceless manufacturers. For the benefit of those 
who desire to " do up " their own fruits I append a few 
trustworthy receipts. For preserving, the "Almy jar" is 
particularly to be recommended. 

In using this jar, fill it with the desired fruit while cold. 
Make a syrup of sugar (quantity as given below) by boiling 
well to prevent fermentation, or it can be put on fruit dry. 
Fill jar with fruit, pour sugar over it until jar is full half- 
way up the neck ; screw on covers of jars without rubber 
rings ; put a board indented with holes in botton of wash- 
boiler and stand jars on it ; fill boiler with cold water up 
to neck of jars ; boil (time necessary for different fruits is 
given below), then remove jars one by one, take off covers, 
fill with boiling water, put on rubber-rings and screw covers 
on tightly as possible. The same process is used in pre- 
serving all kinds of fruits. 

PREPARING FRUITS FOR PRESERVING. 

Boil Cherries moderately 5 minutes. 

" Raspberries " 6 " 

" Blackberries " 6 " 

" Plums " 10 

" Strawberries " 8 " 

" Whortleberries 5 " 

" Pie-Plant sliced 10 " 

" Small Sour Pears, whole 30 " 

" Bartlett Pears, in halves 20 " 

" Peaches " 8 " 

" Peaches, whole , 15 " 

" Pineapple, sliced ^ inch thick 15 " 

" Siberian or Crab Apple, whole 25 " 

" Sour Apples, quartered 10 " 

" Ripe Currants 6 " 

" Wild Grapes 10 " 

" Tomatoes I 90 " 

Pour into warm jars. 



110 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

The amount of sugar to a quart jar should be : 

For Cherries 6 ounces. 

" Raspberries 4 " 

" Lawton Blackberries 6 " 

" Field " 6 " 

" Strawberries 8 " 

" Whortleberries 4 " 

" Quince 10 " 

" Small Sour Pears, whole 8 " 

" Wild Grapes 8 " 

" Peaches 4 «* 

" Bartlett Pears 6 " 

" Pineapples 6 " 

" Siberian or Crab Apples 8 " 

" Plums 8 M 

" Pie-Plant 10 " 

" Sour Apples, quartered 6 " 

" Ripe Currants 8 " 

Cider may be kept fresh and sweet by simply heating it 
until it throws off steam, then putting 'into hot jars and 
sealing immediately. 

Apple Sauce ready for table use or pies may be preserved by 
putting in hot jars and sealing at once. Remember cold 
fruit requires cold jars, hot fruit requires hot jars. 

To open the Jar. — Take the blade of a penknife, or any 
oth r thin instrument, and push the rubber in towards the 
neck at the on the shoulder of the jar. The air will enter 
and the lid will easily unscrew. 

Currant Jelly. — One pound of granulated sugar to each 
pint of juice. Squeeze the currants and boil juice twenty 
minutes, then add sugar, which should be heating while the 
juice boils ; stir well together until sugar is well dissolved. 

M. G. H. 

Wine Jelly. — One box of Cox's gelatine, dissolved in one 
pint of cold water, one pint of wine, one quart of boiling 
water, one quart of granulated sugar, and three lemons. 

M. G. H. 

In making Jam, the first thing to be looked after is the 
fruit. As a general rule, this should be fully ripe, fresh, 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. Ill 

sound, and scrupulously clean and dry. It should be gath- 
ered in the morning of a sunny day, as it will then possess its 
finest flavor. The best sugar is the cheapest ; indeed, there 
is no economy in stinting the sugar, either as to quality or 
necessary quantity, for inferior sugar is wasted in scum, and 
the jam will not keep unless a sufficient proportion of sugar 
is boiled with the fruit. At the same time too large a pro- 
portion of sugar will destroy the natural flavor of the fruit, 
and in all probability make the jam candy. The sugar 
should be dried and broken up into small pieces before it is 
mixed with the fruit. If it is left in large lumps it will be 
a long time in dissolving, and if it is crushed to powder it 
will make the jam look thick instead of clear and bright. 
The quantity to be used must depend in every instance on 
the nature of the fruit. Fruit is generally boiled in a brass 
or copper pan uncovered, and this should be kept perfectly 
bright and clean. Great care should be taken not to place 
the pan flat upon the fire, as this will be likely to make the 
jam burn to the bottom of the pan. If it cannot be placed 
upon a stove- plate, set it upon a slab of soap-stone or marble 
over the fire. Glass jars are much the best for jam, as 
through them the condition of the fruit can be observed. 
Whatever jars are used, however, the jam should be examined 
every three weeks for the first two months, and if there are 
any signs of either mould or fermentation it should be 
boiled over again. If you do not want to use the patent 
glass jar, the best way to cover jam is to lay a piece of paper 
the size of the jar upon the jam, to stretch over the top a 
piece of writing-paper or tissue-paper which has been dipped 
in white of e^g, and to press the sides closely down. When 
dry, this paper will be stiff and tight like a drum. The 
strict economist may use gum dissolved in water instead of 
white of egg. The object aimed at is to exclude the air en- 
tirely. Jam should be stored in a cool, dry place, but not in 
one into which fresh air never enters. Damp has a tenden- 
cy to make the fruit go mouldy and heat to make it fer- 
ment. Some cooks cover the jam as soon as possible after it 
is poured out, but the generally-approved plan is to let the 



112 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

fruit grow cold before covering it. In making jam, contin- 
ual watchfulness is required, as the result of live minutes' 
inattention may be loss and disappointment. 

Canning Tomatoes. — Scald your tomatoes; remove the skins, 
cut in small pieces, put in a porcelain -kettle, salt to taste, 
and boil fifteen minutes ; have tin cans filled with hot water ; 
pour the water out and fill with tomatoes ; solder tops on im- 
mediately with shellac and rosin melted together, m. g. h. 

In canning, it is customary at hotels to follow the same 
process as in preserving, with the exception that not nearly 
so much sugar is used. 

To Can Quinces. — Cut the quinces into thin slices like ap- 
ples for pies. To one quart jarful of quince take a coffee- 
saucer and a half of sugar and a coffee-cup of water ; put 
the sugar and water on the fire, and when boiling put in the 
quinces; have ready the jars with their fastenings, stand the 
jars in a pan of boiling water on the stove, and when the 
quince is clear and tender put rapidly into the jars, fruit and 
syrup together. The jars must be filled so that the syrup 
overflows, and fastened up tight as quickly as possible. 

Green Tomato Pickle. — One peck green tomatoes sliced, six 
large onions sliced, one tea-cup of salt over both ; mix tho- 
roughly and let remain over-night; pour off liquor in (he 
morning and throw it away ; mix two quarts of water and one 
of vinegar, and boil twenty minutes ; drain and throw liquor 
away ; take three quarts of vinegar, two pounds of sugar, two 
tabl'cspoonfuls each of allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and 
mustard, and twelve green peppers chopped fine ; boil from 
one to two hours. Put away in a stone crock. M. G. H. 

Chili Sauce. — Eight quarts tomatoes, three cups of peppers, 
two cups of onions, three cups of sugar, one cup of salt, one 
and one-half quarts of vinegar, three teaspoonfuls of cloves, 
same quantity of cinnamon, two teaspoonfuls each of ginger 
and nutmeg ; boil three hours ; chop tomatoes, peppers, 
and onions very fine ; bottle up and seal. M. g. h. 

Hot Sauce. — Six tablespoonf uls of sugar, twotablespoonfuls 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 113 

of butter, one egg ; beat butter, sugar, and yolks together, 
the white, beaten to a stiff truth; add a teaeupful of boiling 
water and one teaspoonf ul of vanilla. m. g. h. 

The best way to prepare a new iron kettle for use is to fill 
it with clean potato parings ; boil them for an hour or more, 
then wash the kettle with hot water, wipe it dry, and rub it 
with a little lard ; repeat the rubbing for half a dozen times 
after using. In this way you will prevent rust and all the 
annoyances liable to occur in the use of a new kettle. 

A new antiseptic is described by the Journal of Chemistry, 
It is a double salt of borate of potassium and sodium ; and is 
made by dissolving in water equal portions of chloride of po- 
tassium, nitrate of sodium, and boracic acid, filtering and 
evaporating to dryness. It does not give a bad taste to food. 
Butter may be kept sweet by it at ordinary temperatures for 
a week. Meat, game, etc., dipped in a weak solution remain 
pure for a long time. A piece of meat well rubbed with the 
salt and laid away two years ago is now in perfectly good 
condition. Eggs dipped in a solution of this antiseptic re- 
main good for a long period. 

Morning Tonic. — An agreeable and effective tonic for the 
correction of any discomfort arising from a too heavy supper 
the night before may be taken in the morning before break- 
fast, as follows : One wineglassful of "Hunyadi Water," fif- 
teen minutes afterward a goblet of " Apollinaris Water "; wait 
half an hour before breakfasting. The use of any alcoholic 
beverages before breakfast, such as cocktails, etc., is to be 
deprecated, as, aside from any moral point, it tends to pro- 
mote indigestion, creates a false appetite, and is in every 
way injurious to the system. The man who resorts to it for 
"toning up," or as an "appetizer," deceives himself. 

Dyspepsia Cure. — One-half an ounce each of pepsin and 
bismuth, one-quarter of an ounce cubebs, and two and a half 
grains lime ; mix well and take a pinch of the powder fifteen 
minutes after each meal. I have never known this remedy 
to fail when tried. t. j. m. 



114 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

MENUS. 

My object in introducing the following menus is to serve 
a double purpose : first, to show progress made in the art of 
constructing menus in the past thirty years — for it is an art, 
and a very important one, too — among leading caterers ; and 
second, to furnish hints to all who may wish to give dinners 
or suppers more or less elaborate. It has often happened in 
my experience that customers would submit to me bills of 
fare constructed by another caterer in the event of a pros- 
pective "spread," and say there was something about it 
they did not like, some dish they would like to substitute, 
etc. In this small space I have only attempted to give a few 
of the many thousand varieties in my collection, but I now 
have in preparation a volume embodying bills of fare, esti- 
mates for cost of different bills based on number of guests to 
be seated, together with a glossary or dictionary of French 
idioms and words used in menus and the reason of their 
adoption. The use of any but our own language on bills of 
fare ought to be avoided, but there are cases where it is im- 
possible, and it is with the view of enlightening those who 
cannot understand the meaning of French terms used, and 
yet shrink from displaying their lack of knowledge, that I 
have devoted my time to the construction of a glossary. 



DINNER ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF 
DANIEL WEBSTER. 

At the Revere House, Boston, Friday, Jan. 18, 1856. 



Oysters on Shell. 

Soup. 

Mock Turtle. Tomato. Fish Chowder. 

Fish. 

Boiled Cod's Head and Oysters. 

Fried Sea Trout with Rashers of Pork. 

Baked Striped Bass, Stuffed, Claret Sauce. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 115 

Removes. 

Roast Turkey. Boiled Turkey and Oyster Sauce. 

Roast Sirloin of Beef. Boiled Capons and Pork, Celery Sauce. 

Roast Mongrel Geese from Marshfield. 
Boiled Leg English Mutton, Caper Sauce. 

Roast Westphalia Ham, Champagne Sauce. 

Cold Ornamental Dishes. 

Boar's Head on a Socle, Decorated. 

Lobster Salad, Garnished, in Jelly. Galatine of Turkey with Truffles. 

Quail with Plumage, on Form. Boned Chicken with Truffles. 

Pate of Liver in Jelly. Aspic of Oysters, a la Royale. 

Entrees. 

Macaroni a la Anizine. Mutton Cutlets, Breaded. 

Venison Steak, Jelly Sauce. Vol au Vent, a la Financiere. 

Arcade of Partridge with Olives. 

Terrapin, Stewed, Port Wine Sauce. 

Fillets of Black Grouse with Truffles. 

Sweetbreads, Larded, with Green Peas. 

Veal Cutlets, Larded, Tomato Sauce. 

Mutton Kidneys, Champagne Sauce.. 

Fillet of Beef with Mushrooms. Turban of Fillets of Chicken. 

Calf s Head, Turtle Sauce. Oysters Fried in Crumbs. 

Tripe, Webster Style. 

Game. 

Gray Ducks. Canvas-Back Ducks. Black Ducks. 

Widgeons. Partridge. Red Heads. Prairie Grouse. 

Quail. English Pheasants. Teal. Brant. 

Meringue Baskets. Omelet Soufflee. Blanc-Mange. Pastry. 
Creams. Confectionery. Wine Jelly. Charlotte Russe. 

ORNAMENTS. 

Dessert 

Lemon Ice-Cream. Fruit. Frozen Plum-Pudding. 
Roman Punch. Bon-Bon Glace. 

Coffee and Liqueurs. 



116 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 



BANQUET AT THE TENTH ANNUAL REUNION OF THE 
SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND. 

Friday, July 7, 1876, St. George's Hall, Philadelphia. 

President. — Lieut.- Gen. Philip H. Sheridan. 

Soup. 

Green Turtle, Sherry Wine. 

Fish. 

Salmon — Lobster Sauce, Iced Cucumbers, Haut Bareac. 

Roast. 

Spring Lamb, Mint Sauce. Fillet de Bceuf, with Mushrooms. 

Geisler Blue Seal Champagne. 

Vegetables. 

Potatoes. Peas. Tomatoes. Cauliflower. 

Entrees. 

Sweetbreads and Peas. Chicken Croquettes. 

Salad. 

Lobster. 

Dessert. 

Ices. Meringues. Fruit. Claret Wine. Coffee. 

Brandy. Whiskey. Cigars. 



The President of the U. S., 

George H. Thomas, 

The Army and Navy, 

The Volunteers, . 

The Army of the Cumberland, 

Sherman's Army, . 

Our Departed Comrades, 



Toasts. 



Gen. J. S. Fullerton. 
Gen. J. A. Garfield. 
Gen. W. T. Sherman. 
Gen. J. P. Bankson. 
Gen. C. H. Grosvenor. 
Major W. H. Lambert. 
Gen. Wm. Cogswell. 



BANQUET AND RECEPTION TO HON. MATTHEW S. 

QUAY. 

November 23, 1878. 

Second only to the entertainment given to Grand Duke Alexis, in 
1869, was the reception and banquet tendered to Hon. Matthew S. 
Quay, late chairman of the Republican State Committee, by the 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 117 

Union Republican Club, yesterday afternoon and evening, at the club- 
rooms and banqueting-room of the Continental Hotel. The recep- 
tion ceremonies commenced promptly at the hour of five o'clock, at 
the club-rooms, President Addicks officiating, and continued until seven 
o'clock, when the members of the club to the number of 1 12, accom- 
panied by twenty-five invited guests, and the grandest display of fire- 
works ever witnessed in this city, repaired to the banqueting-room of 
the Continental Hotel. 

At precisely eight o'clock the party assembled sat down to the most 
sumptuous banquet ever prepared in this city, and it was not until 10 
o'clock that the lengthy bill of fare was disposed of. At the latter 
hour Mr. Rufus E. Shapley, the toastmaster of the evening, an- 
nounced the first toast, to which the honored guest of the occasion, 
Hon. M. S. Quay, fittingly responded. He was followed by Hon. 
Morton McMichael, and ex-Governor Thomas L. Young, of Ohio, 
responded to the toast of "the President of the United States." Gov- 
ernor Hartranft followed, and succeeding him came Governor-elect 
Hoyt, who, after an excellent speech, introduced General Adam E. 
King, of Baltimore, who made one of the best speeches of the even- 
ing. Hon. Galusha A. Grow followed in a lengthy speech, and he 
was followed by General Palmer, of Wilkesbarre. Speeches were 
also made by Colonel Norris and others, until the hour of twelve 
o'clock arrived, when the party dispersed. 

Carl Sentz's band furnished the music for the occasion, while Mr. 
Murrey superintended the banquet. One of the chief features of the 
banquet was the bill of fare, which was certainly the handsomest and 
most costly of any ever gotten up in this city, and, as a souvenir, will 
long be treasured by all who participated on the occasion. 

Prominent among those present were Governor Hartranft, Gover- 
nor-elect Hoyt, ex-Governor Young, of Ohio, Hon. Galusha A. Grow, 
Mayor Stokley, ex-Mayor McMichael, Judges Yerkes, Thayer, Briggs, 
and Ashman, Gen. McCartney, Gen. Palmer, Gen. Owen, Hon. B. 
H. Brewster, Attorney-General Lear, Hon. Butterworlh, First Con- 
gressional district of Ohio, Gen. Bingham, James McManes, Esq., 
United States District- Attorney Valentine, Lieutenant-Governor- 
elect C. W. Stone, Messrs. Leeds, Hill, Thomas J. Smith, Henry 
Bumm, and Colonel Norris. 

Menu. 

Blue Point Oysters. Chablis. 

Green Turtle. Colbert. 

Sherry. 

Pates a la Reine. 



118 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Salmon Sauce, Hollandaise. 

Filet of English Sole, a l'Allemande. Potato Croquette. 

Marcobrunner. 

Sweet-Bread, a la Morland. Breast of Capon, a la Marengo. 

Terrapin. La Rose. 

Asparagus, French Peas. Mumra's Extra Dry. 

Punch a la Romaine, in Orange Baskets. 

Cigarettes. 

Canvas-back Duck. Saddle of Venison. 

Potatoes Parisienne. Chambertin. 

Celery, en Mayonnaise, Lettuce. 
Old English and Roquefort Cheese. Osbourne's Old Port. 

Charlotte Russe, Jellies. Gateaux Assortis Bisquit, Glace. 

Ice-Cream, Fruits, French Coffee, Liquors. 
— Judge Bunn's Transcript. 



DINNER A LA MARYLAND. 
A patriotic son of Maryland has suggested as a perfect dinner, the 
choice of the amphitryon being restricted to the productions of the 
State, the following : 

Four small Lynhaven Bay oysters. 
Terrapin, a la Maryland. 

Canvas-back Duck. 

Salad of Crab and Lettuce. 

Baked Irish Potatoes. Fried Hominy Cakes. Plain Celery. 

A royal feast, I assure you j but as I have not been invited, and as 
the affair may not come off, I feel at liberty to criticise. I consider a 
salad of crab and lettuce " too heavy " for such a menu as our u pa 
triotic son of Maryland" has suggested ; and as for the fried hominy 
cakes, why, it is like feeding swine on truffles — out of place, I assure 
you ! It is too suggestive of the hog and hominy of the Sunny South. 
My gastronomic friend, where is your elegant Burgundy, or a bottle 
of the Leland Brothers' private stock Madeira ? 

Now I will give you my idea of a loyal dinner : 

Menu. 

Four Blue Point Oysters. 

Consomme with Egg. Celery. Grated Rusk. 

" Petites Bouchees " of Quail. 

Terrapin, Philadelphia style. Saratoga Chips. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 119 

Canvas-back Duck. Currant Jelly. 

Lettuce Salad, plain Dressing. 

Roquefort Cheese, with Hard Water-Cracker. 

Coffee Demi-tasse. 

The coffee is to be made at table by an expert ; and the wines — 
well, say a bottle of sparkling Hock made from the Riesling grape 
served after the soup-plates have been removed, and a choice bottle 
of good old Burgundy or rare Madeira. 



BANQUET TO THE EON. GEORGE LEAR, EX-ATTORNEY- 
GENERAL, TENDERED BY THE SENATE OF PENN- 
SYLVANIA. 

Lochiel Hotel, Harrisburg, Pa., Thursday, March 27, 1879. 

Served by Thomas J. Murrey, of Continental Hotel, Phila. 

Menu. 
Oysters. Celery. Chablis. 

Chicken a la Reine. Amontillado Sherry. 

Petites Bouchees a l'Imperial. 
Boiled Striped Bass, Hollandaise. 

Broiled Shad, Sauce Tartare. 
Cucumber Salad. 

P. A. Mumm's Johannesberg. 

Fillet of Beef, with Mushrooms. 

Loin of Lamb, Epicurean. 

Godillat's French Peas. Potatoes Duchesse. 

Chateau La Rose. 

Supreme of Fowl, Sauce Bearnaise. 

Cutlet of Sweet-breads a la Perigord. 
Tomatoes Stuffed an Gratia. 

G. H. Mumm's Extra Dry. 

Punch Cardinal. Cigarettes a la Russe. 

Squabs Stuffed a la Murrey. Chambertin. 

Lettuce Salad. 

Omelette Souffle. Assorted Jelly. 

Glace Napolitaine. Assorted Cake. 

Fruit. 

Roquefort Cheese. Boston Water-Crackexe. 

Coffee. 



120 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

A DICKENS CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
(From Dickens' Story of "A Christmas Carol.") 

COMPOSED BY T. J. MURREY. 

Preparatory. 

"What's to-day, my fine fellow?" " To-day? why, Christmas 
day." 

The flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cozy dinner, 
with hot plates baking through and through before the fire. 

She laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda. And everything was good 
to eat, and in its Christmas dress. 

At last the dishes were set on and grace was said. 

Dinner. 
Oysters. 
u Self-contained and solitary as an oyster." 

Barrels of Oysters. Chateau Sauterne. 

u A glass of wine ready to our hand." 
Light Wine. 
Hors-oVoiuvre. 
Tiny Tim Pickles. 
Soup. 
Creme of Cauliflower — Fin-Bee. 
" The compound was considered perfect." 
" It had a remarkable quality, and Scrooge observed it." 

Sherry (private stock, 1836). 
" From a cask in the merchants' wine-cellars below." 
u Here he produced a decanter of wine." 

Fish. 
Filet of Sole— Sam Ward. 
" The very fish in a bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant- 
blooded race, appeared to know that there was something going on. 
Scrooge's ' two fish-baskets ' never held anything like them." 
Boiled Potatoes. 
" He blew the fire until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked 
loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled." 
Nackenheimer Auslese. 
" Satisfactory, too. Oh ! perfectly satisfactory." 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 121 

Entree. 
Tenderloin of Pork — Chas. Lamb. 
u An animal that grunted sometimes." 
" Seasonable at Christmas time." 

Spanish Onions Stuffed and Baked. 
" Shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish friars." 

Pommeiy Sec. 
" Never out of season." 
f* He iced his." 

Punch a la Bishop. 
" We will discuss your affairs over the punch." 

Boast 
Turkey. 
" It is not a fictitious one, glued on a wooden platter." 
" Not unlike the big prize turkey that Scrooge sent to the Cratchit 
family." 

Cranberry Sauce. 
" Modest tartness." 

Goose, Apple Sauce. 
Mashed Potato. 
" Bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked j 
its tenderness and flavor were the themes of universal satisfaction." 

" Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potato, it was a sufficient 
dinner for the whole family." 

Komanee Conti. 
u Came after the roast." 
" A' noble adjustment of things." 

Plain Salad. 
" Like lettuce." 

" It was made plain enough by the dressing. The ' aromatic 
vinegar ' improved it." 

Dessert. 
" With the dessert upon the table." 

Plum-Pudding, Brandy Sauce. 
" Hallo ! a great steam ! the pudding was out of the copper." 
11 Mrs. Cratchit entered with a pudding blazing in half a quartern 
of ignited brandy " 

" And a wonderful pudding it was." 



122 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Mince-Pies. 
" They had mince-pies." 

Confections. 
" The candied fruits, so caked and spotted with molten sugar as 
to make the coldest lookers-on feel faint— and subsequently bilious." 

Fruit. 
" Cherry-cheeked apples and oranges, beseeching to be carried 
home in paper bags and eaten after dinner." 

" There were bunches of grapes, and figs, and raisins, and al- 
monds." 

Cheese. 
" A crumb of cheese." 

Tea and Coffee. 
" The blended scents of tea and coffee were so grateful to the 
nose." 

" At last dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the ' hot stuff' 
in the jug was tasted, and Bob proposed — " A Merry Christmas to us 
all.' " 



On Easter day (1830) there was a private banquet at the Rossmore 
Hotel in this city, prepared, devised, and superintended by Mr. T. J. 
Murrey. The service was for twenty, and the menu was as follows: 

Who can help loving the land that has taught us six hundred and 
eighty-five ways to dress eggs. — Moore. 

Oysters. 

Wm. Travers once observed that the oyster was a most intelligent 
creature, since it " shuts up sometimes." 

Soup. 
Consomme Colbert. 
" On holydays, with an egg or two at most." — Chaucer. 
Fish. 
Shad Roe — Bechamel. 
"He was as thin as a lath, and lank as a June shad." — W. H. 
Smith, in the novel of "The Minister's Wife." 
Fresh Cucumbers. 
11 For this, be sure to-night thou shalt have cramps."— Shakspere. 



Valuable Cooking Receipts. 123 

Beleve. 
Leg of Mutton, Caper Sauce. 
" It gives true epicures the vapors 
To see boiled mutton minus capers." 

— Sam Ward. 
Entree. 
Puree of Guinea-Hen with Poached Eggs. 
" The vulgar boil, the learned poach an egg. 11 — Pope. 

Omelette au Bum. 
" Made fair in the form of a maiden, 
A medley of music and flame." 

— Justin McCarthy. 

Egg-Nogg, Frappe a 1' Alexandria. 

Boast. 

Squab, stuffed a la Lindenthorpe. 

"Like a fat squab upon" a Chinese fan." — Cowper. 

Green Peas. 
" Of the sort that cost some four or five guineas a quart." — Hood. 

Baked Potatoes. 
u Ireland's native esculent in a baked condition." 

— Lord Beacon sfield. 

"The principal kind of ' taters ' raised by Ireland last year was 
agitators."— New York World, Jan. 18, 1880. 

Salad. 

Lettuce Francaise. 

" Back to the world he'd turn his fleeting soul 
And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl." 

— Sydney' Smith. 

Dessert. 
Assorted. 
" I crack my brains to find out tempting sauces, 
And raise fortifications in the pastry." 

—Lady Allworth's Cook. 



124 Valuable Cooking Receipts. 

Coffee. 
u Mocha's berry from Arabia pure, 
In small, fine China cups, came in at last." 

— Byron. 
Cigars. 
"Ah ! social friend, I love thee well, 
In learned doctors' spite. Thy clouds all other 
Clouds dispel, and lap me in delight." 

— Charles Sprague. 



SALAD COLLATION TO GEO. M. TOTTEN, U. S.N. 

Continental Hotel, Philadelphia. 

Huitres. Chablis. 

Potages. 
Colbert. Cabinet Amontillado. Pain a Caviar. 

Poisson. 
Filet de Sole, a la Godard. Marcobrunner. 

Service Froid. 

Filet de Bceuf Pique, au Salade Priutaniere. Eomanee Conti. 

Cotelette de Volaille en Bellevue. 

Salade Cranes Dur, a la Gourmand. CEufs Farci, a la Totten. 

Tartelette de Pigeon, a la Vienna. Cordon Kouge. 

Salad Escarole, a la Murrey. Celeri. 

Laitue. Fromage de Koquefort. Old Port (private stock). 

Fruit. Cafe noir. Liqueurs. 

T. J. Murrey, Caterer. 
October 2, 1878. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Antiseptic 113 

App' 3 Sauce 110 

Snow 76 

Toddy, Hot 107 

Arrowroot for Batters and Sauces.. 37 

Artichokes, Boiled 92 

Jerusalem 92 

Asparagus, Boiled 92 

Banquet Service 101 

Beef a la Mode 21 

Corned 18 

Fillet of 20 

Roast 39 

Beets, Boiled 95 

Biscuit, Milk 61 

Blanc-Mauge 82 

Boiling. Remarks" on 17 

Bread, How to make 59 

Boston Brown 61 

Steamed " 61 

Corn 60 

Continental Hotel Corn 61 

Wheat 60 

Stuffing 46 

Cahbage, Remarks on 91 

Cake, Corn 62 

Tried Bread 62 

Almond 76 

Almond Sponge 76 

Chocolate 77 

Chocolate Macaroons 78 

Cocoanut 77 

Cocoanut Pound 78 

Columbia 77 

Cream 79 

Crescents 81 



PAGE 

Cake, Ginger Cup 79 

Icing 79 

English Christmas 75 

Knickerbocker 77 

Lady Fingers, No. 1 80 

" No. 2 81 

Macaroons 79 

Maids of Honor 81 

Marbled 80 

Neapolitan 80 

Pound, without Soda 80 

Olive Gingerbread 77 

Whortleberry, No. 1 78 

No. 2 78 

Windsor 79 

Zephyr 77 

Call's Brains en Matelotte 23 

Fried 24 

" and Tongue 24 

Head 22 

" Broiled 23 

" Collared 23 

" Fried 22 

" Maitre d'Hotel 23 

Capon, Boiled 20 

Roast 46 

Carrots 94 

Cauliflower, Boiled 95 

Celery, Boiled 94 

Champagne 104 

Charlotte Russe 81 

Chestnut Stuffing 45 

Chickens a l'ltaliennc 29 

Boiled 19 

Croquettes 29 

Fricassee 28 



126 



Index. 



PAGE 

Chickens, Fried 29 

Liver en Brochette 31 

Patties 30 

Panada 30 

Pie 30 

Roast 46 

Roast Prairie 49 

Toast 31 

With Dumplings 31 

With Rice 29 

Cider, How to keep fresh 110 

Codfish, Baked 12 

Salt, with Cream 13 

Coffee, Remarks on 86 

Corn, Boiled 95 

Cream, Bavarian 83 

Ice 84 

Italian 83 

Lemon Ice 85 

Manioca 82 

Peach Ice 85 

Yanillalce 85 

Whipped Coffee 83 

Whipped with Liqueurs 83 

Crullers 69 

Cucumber, Stewed 96 

Daudelion, Stewed 96 

Dressing, Plain French 52 

PlainEnglish 53 

Bacon 53 

Duck, Braise of, with Turnips 31 

Braise of, with Peas 31 

Roast Canvas- Back 48 

Roast Domestic 47 

Wild, Saline of 32 

Drinks, Mixed 106 

Dyspepsia Cure 113 

Eels, Fricasseed 14 

Patties 15 

Egg-N ogg 106 

Egg-Plant, Stuffed, No. 1 25 

Stuffed, No. 2 35 

Etiquette, Table 97 

Fritters 37 

Golden Buck 39 

Goose, Roast 47 

Ham a la Russe 48 

Boiled 19 

Horse Radish, Boiled 96 

Hot Apple Toddy 107 

Spiced Rum 107 

Tom and Jerry 107 

Ice Cream, How to make 84 



PAGU 

Ice Cream, Lemon 85 

Peach 85 

Vanilla 85 

Ices, Water, Apricot 85 

" Lemon 85 

Icing for Cake 79 

Jam 110 

Jelly, Currant 110 

Wine 110 

Kettles, Preparing for use 113 

Lamb, Breast of 28 

Fricassee 28 

Roast 41 

Roast Saddle of 41 

Lemonade 106 

Lobster, Broiled 13 

En Brochette 14 

Macaroni, Baked 34 

Macaroons 79 

Basket 83 

Chocolate 78 

Mackerel, Salt, Broiled 13 

Meringues 82 

Milk Punch 106 

Mince Meat for Pies 65 

Mixed Drinks 106 

Muffins, Continental Hotel 61 

Mushrooms, Remarks on 58 

Mutton, Remarks on 40 

Boiled Leg of. 18 

Breast of, with Peas 25 

Curry of 26 

Hash with Poached Eggs 26 

Pie 27 

Ragout of 26 

Roast Leg of 41 

Roast Loin of 41 

Omelettes, Remarks on 37 

Oyster 38 

Rum 38 

Souffle 38 

Onions 94 

Orange Basket 86 

Oyster-Plant 95 

Croquettes 36 

Stuffing 46 

Oysters, a la Poulette 7 

Broiled 7 

Escalloped 6 

Fried 7 

Patties 6 

Raw 5 

Roast on half-shell 6 



Index, 



127 



PAGE 

Oysters, xuujrt 7 

Parsnip Fritters 36 

Partridge, Salm<§ of 32 

Paste 64 

Peas, Green 93 

Bottled 93 

Pickle, Green Tomato 112 

Pies, Remarks on 62 

Apple 64 

" Meringue 65 

" Sliced. 64 

" Custard 65 

Beefsteak 21 

Custard 66 

Fruit 66 

Lemon Cream, No. 1 66 

No. 2 67 

Orange 67 

Pumpkin 66 

Pigeon. Roast 47 

Pork, Remarks on 42 

and Beans 33 

Chops, Tomato Sauce 24 

Sausages 25 

Potatoes, Remarks on 90 

Balls 35 

Cakes 36 

Fritters 36 

Stuffed 35 

Powder, Baking 70 

Puff Paste 63 

Pudding, Almond 72 

Astor House 74 

Bachelor's 73 

Batter 69 

Bird's Nest 73 

Boiled 68 

Citron 74 

Chocolate 69 

Coeoanut 73 

Eve's 74 

Harlan's 73 

Manhattan 75 

Manioca 75 

Macaroni 72 

Marlborough 72 

Plum, Emrlish G7 

" Plain 68 

" New England 68 

Roly-Poly 71 

Lemon 71 

Sliced Apple 74 

Steamed Arrowroot 72 



PAGE 

Punch, Santa Cruz 107 

Preserving 108 

Quail, Roast 49 

Quinces, Canning 112 

Rail-Birds 49 

Rarebit. Welsh 38 

Yorkshire 39 

Reed-Birds 50 

Rice Croquettes 34 

Roasting, Remarks on 39 

Salads, Remarks on 51 

Alligator Pear 58 

Asparagus 56 

Chicken 55 

Cucumber and Tomato 57 

Cucumber 57 

Herring 55 

Hop Sprouts 56 

Lettuce 52 

Lobster 54 

Muskmelon 58 

Potato 55 

Sandwich 57 

Turnip Tops 56 

Yeal 55 

Salmon, Soyer's Boiled 15 

Salt, Remarks on 58 

Santa Cruz Punch 107 

Sauces, Anchovy 16 

Celery 16 

Caper 16 

Chili 112 

Drawn Butter 15 

Dutch 17 

Egg 17 

Hot 112 

Lobster 16 

Maitre d'Hotel 15 

Mint 41 

Mayonnaise, No. 1 53 

No. 2 53 

Oyster, No. 1 16 

No. 2. 17 

Robert 25 

Summer Mayonnaise 53 

Tartare 23 

Tomato 25 

Vanilla 69 

Vinaigrette 53 

Wine 73 

Gravy for baked Fish 17 

For Plum-Pudding 68 

Shad, Baked 14 



128 



Index. 



PAGE 

Sherries 108 

Snipe, Roast 49 

Soup, Beef Tea 11 

Chicken, No. 1 11 

No. 2 11 

Gumbo 8 

MockTurtle 9 

OxTail 10 

Pea 10 

" Economical 10 

Stock 8 

Tomato 10 

Veal Stock 8 

" Broth 8 

Spiced Rum, Hot 107 

Spinach, Boiled 94 

Sprouts, Brussels 93 

Stew, Beef 21 

Sweetbreads, Stewed 24 

Table Etiquette •. 97 

Tomatoes, Canning 112 

Stuffed 34 

Tom and Jerry, Hot 107 



PAGE 

Tonic, Morning 113 

Tongue, Boiled 19 

Tripe, Broiled 33 

Fricassee 33 

Lronnaise 33 

Trout" Tenderloin 14 

Turkey, Remarks on 14 

Boiled 19 

Roast 45 

Turnips, Boiled 93 

Veal Croquettes 27 

Fricassee of. 27 

Roast Loiu of. 40 

Venison, Breast of. 33 

Chops 32 

Epicurean 32 

Patties 33 

Roast 48 

Weeds 97 

Whiskies 108 

Wines, Remarks on 102 

Woodcock, Roast 49 



